


Dark Angel

by jess (jess_m)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Captain America: The First Avenger, F/M, HYDRA training, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra Centric, Hydra-centric, Major Original Character(s), Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mind Stone, Minor Original Character(s), Mostly in Hydra, Multi, Mutant Powers, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Psychological Torture, Red Room (Marvel), Torture, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, World War II, brain washing, infinity stone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-18 19:59:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14859294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jess_m/pseuds/jess
Summary: The Winter Soldier never operated alone. Hydra knew all along their strength would truly be found in pairing two of their greatest weapons together. So as the Winter Soldier was being created, so was Electra.





	1. Prologue: You No Longer Exist

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know I have many other WIP's, but this story has been in the back of my mind for a long time so I finally want to post it. 
> 
> I do not own Marvel or any characters originally found in the movies or comics. I do not own any plotlines or dialogue originally found in comics or movies.
> 
> For those of you who know Elektra from the Defenders and Daredevil, the comics, or the (frankly quite poor) movie. I just want to clarify: I am NOT writing her. For starters, Elektra is the girl from Daredevil's actual name. In this story I will be writing a character with Electra as her title (like Winter Soldier is to Bucky). Secondly, they are spelled different for this very reason. I do not wish to display any relation to the two in any way, shape, or form. And finally, this Electra will have powers. The original Elektra found in the comics was mostly just an assassin. 
> 
> The depiction of Hydra in this story will not be canon. There will likely be some elements that remain the same but in order to build this story I will not use the canonical time Bucky spent in Hydra. If that bothers you and you wish to read a story where Hydra is exactly as it is shown in the comics then I'm afraid this story is not for you.
> 
> If you wish to read, please enjoy! 
> 
> If you find any errors in Russian dialogue please let me know. My Russian is not the best and I will be grateful for any and all corrections offered.

The white blinding light flooded her eyes making the room looking heavenly despite it being a level of hell unknown by the public.

“She is awake,” a feminine Russian accent announced. “Get the commander,” she instructed with a nod to a soldier by her side.

The soldier narrowed his eyes at the young woman, blonde hair spread around her like a halo as he nodded. Her vision was somewhere between blurry and clear but her mind refused to catch up to what her eyes beheld. 

She should be dead.

The woman who she assumed was a doctor turned to her with a thin smile and she wanted to ask every question burning inside her mind. Where was she? Why was she alive? What happened?

The doctor took a deep breath and sat down beside her on some unseen stool. Without her permission, the doctor began combing back her bangs and watching her as though she were some dutiful mother who only wished to care for her.

“You must have a lot of questions,” the doctor presumed. 

She wanted to nod and voice them but, when she opened her mouth all that came out was some odd croaking sound. She winced and tried to grab her throat but there were restraints over her wrists.

Her eyes widened and she tugged at them furiously to no avail. 

“Shh, shh,” the doctor hummed, brushing her hair out of her face.

Her heart raced in her ears and her breathing grew rapid as she tried to analyze everything in sight and work out where she was.

“This must all be very confusing for you,” the doctor nodded. “Allow me to explain. My name is Doctor Sofia Sokolov. At 6 pm yesterday evening you were executed for the publication of military intelligence during war and pronounced dead. So far, as anyone in the world knows or cares, you no longer exist,” the doctor announced and her blood ran cold.

She gulped harshly and wanted to list off a dozen questions about where the hell she was but before she could even consider opening her mouth, the door hissed as it chugged open and two men marched in.

One was the boyish soldier she had seen earlier, but the other was a much older men in military clothes with a thick mustache and gray hair as well as the markings of what looked to be the beginning of a beard but was nothing extraordinary at the moment.

He had a manilla envelope in his hands with some Russian writing stamped across the front.

“Ah, Miss Markus so glad you could join us,” the man hummed, his thick Russian accent making his words difficult to understand when he spoke. “You may leave us, Doctor Sokolov, I have some matters to attend to with our patient.”

The doctor stood and politely nodded to the man before marching out without so much as a glance in her own direction.

The strange man took a deep breath and marched over to her, sitting in the spot the doctor had vacated.

“Now, Miss Markus, where shall we begin, hm?” The man prompted.

She gulped harshly and took a deep breath before daring to test her voice once again. “Where am I?” Her voice croaked. She almost sighed with relief at the fact that while she seemed a bit parched, she still had the ability to speak. 

“I should have thought you’d figure this out by now,” the man frowned. “You are a clever girl, aren’t you? Writing all these witty articles in the newspapers,” he hummed. He stood up again and seemed to be flipping through pages of writing. He started reading while pacing her bedside. “ _ The Demise of the Red Skull. Captain America’s Brave Sacrifice.  _ Yes, all very interesting. But the Army did not like that you publish all their secrets did they?” He smirked. “All their attacks on Hydra. You seem to know where and when every single one was,” he sighed. “It is a shame. We could have used an asset such as you when the  _ brave _ Captain America was taking our bases down one by one like dominoes,” he sneered. 

She looked wildly between the man and the soldier standing by his side and began to struggle much more. It wasn’t possible. She couldn’t be their prisoner. They had been disbanded. Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter took down all the lasting bases. Hydra was over.

The man simply barked out a laugh at her struggle.

“You may fight all you want, Miss Markus but there is no way out of this,” the

man hummed, taking a seat beside her once again and looming over her with a sadistic smirk gracing his lips. “Now why don’t you tell us where you got the information about the attacks?

She spit in his face. “Go to hell,” she murmured.

The man winced and used a handkerchief in his uniform to wipe her spit away before chuckling darkly and sighing.

“Yes, I was warned you were the fighting kind,” he hummed. “But I will warn you, we do not like to waste rooms on insubordinate little  _ neryakhi’s _ such as yourself,” he announced as he stood up.

“What are we going to do with her?” The boyish soldier by his side asked.

The commander glanced back at her curiously and she rolled her eyes, knowing no matter what they had planned, she would never speak.

“Prepare her for the trials,” the commander sighed. “Perhaps, some test runs with the stone will loosen her tongue.”

“But ser,” the soldier frowned. “We have not done the trials of the stone on humans. The nauchnoye podrazdeleniye does not know if anything will happen.”

“Well, we will find out if anything will happen when we stick that stone on her head, now go!” He barked.

The soldier didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped at the commander yelling at him before running out of the room, disappearing with the loud hiss of the door sealing shut.

The man turned back to her with a grin that would make a villain out of a movie weep. 

“You will tell us one way or another, Miss Markus,” the man hummed. “And even if you don’t, I should think you will make a wonderful lab rat before we begin volunteering.”


	2. World Exposition of Tomorrow

**Two Years Earlier**

Blonde locks raced behind a young woman as the wind rushed in her ears. She shuffled the various newspapers in her hands, desperate to get to the tiny apartment building at the very edge of the street.

However, as she looked down to pick up a few stray newspapers falling out of her hands, she collided face first into a tall and sturdy figure.

“Oh, I’m so,” she mumbled, but her eyes brightened as she saw the face behind the figure.

The man was tall yet strong, with dark unruly hair hair, bright blue eyes shining down at her like an old friend, and a smile that could outbrighten the sun. He donned a military outfit, but she hardly noticed, all too focused on the wonder of the man before her.

“Need a little help there?” The man chuckled, seeing the state of duress his friend had fallen into.

“Bucky!” She exclaimed. She jumped up into his arms and hugged him as though she hadn’t seen him in years while he simply laughed.

“Hey, Jules,” Bucky hummed, placing Juliet Markus back on the ground where she had stood. “What’s up?” He asked, frowning at the dozens of newspapers in her hands.

“My story finally got in a newspaper!” Juliet grinned. She flipped furiously through the pages only to show him a tiny blurb with her name in bold letters above it.

“Well, congratulations!” Bucky laughed. “I was just going to take Steve out to Howard Stark’s convention, but maybe we can make it a whole celebration,” he shrugged. 

“That sounds good,” Juliet nodded, her voice breathless as she stared down at her little blurb in the New York Times once more. “Hold on, why were you taking Steve out to Stark’s convention?” She wondered.

“Well,” Bucky sighed, gesturing to his uniform. “I’ve gotten my orders,” he mumbled.

Juliet’s eyes inflated as she took in the outfit for the first time, hardly noticing it in her mad dash of excitement.

“No,” Juliet breathed. “No, you’re going?” She whined like a small child.

“I know,” Bucky sighed, nodding his shared disappointment. “I’m shipping out for England first thing tomorrow.”

“But, why didn’t you tell me?” Juliet frowned, shaking her head aimlessly. “We’ll waste the night on my stupid blurb now,” she said, tossing the paper over her shoulder. “This is your last night here.”

“No, no, hey,” Bucky muttered, grabbing one of the papers off the ground and flipping back to her page. “This is important too,” he insisted. “We’re not wasting the night. We’re celebrating something you’ve been trying to get done for months now. This is big,” he nodded.

“You going off to fight in the war is big,” Juliet moaned. “My thing can wait,” she shrugged. “I can just celebrate with Steve some other time.”

“No, I wanna celebrate this with you,” Bucky persisted. 

“But why?” Juliet huffed. “Why waste tonight on something as stupid as this?”

Compared to his shipping out, her little story was nothing. Certainly not as important as spending as much time as possible with her closest friend.

“It’s not stupid,” Bucky snapped. “And we don’t have to spend the whole night on it if you don’t want. We can still hang out together before the night is up.”

“But why?” Juliet muttered, rolling her eyes at the very idea. She wanted to spend what could be the last night she saw her best friend, cherishing every moment with him, not focusing on some little news story that would likely happen again in the future.  She was unsure of why he was persistent in spending the night on some little blurb.

“Because I want to spend my last night in Brooklyn celebrating one of my best friends and not worrying about what the morning may bring,” Bucky sighed. “Besides, this could very well be my last chance to celebrate your story with you and I don’t wanna lose that.”

“It’s not,” Juliet shook her head furiously. “It won’t be,” she insisted, fear clenching her heart at the very idea.

Bucky took a deep breath and hung his head, staring down at the little news blurb in the paper. As soon as he got his orders he knew what fate laid before him. He was the type of guy destined to fight and destined to die out there. There was no coming back for him and he knew that the day he got his orders, still, he knew he couldn’t let that knowledge show to Juliet.

After her father died fighting in England she lost it. She wanted to give up her dreams of journalism and go into nursing just to make sure nobody close to her ever died in that war again. It was only because of Bucky’s interference that she remained on the path to becoming a journalist, and now she had gotten a story in the papers.

He wasn’t going to let her lose focus of that now just because he was going off to battle.

“You’re right,” Bucky sighed, feigning a smile for her sake. “I’m sorry,” he shook his head. “But never mind that, let’s go find Steve and celebrate your little news blurb,” he smirked, waving the paper before her as he draped his arm over her shoulders.

Juliet chuckled and glanced down. “My money’s on him being in a fight,” she mumbled. “Again.”

“Y’know I wish you were wrong,” Bucky sighed, and chuckled lightly. “But just in case we’re going to check down all the alleys guys usually like to beat the stuffing out of him in,” he said and Juliet laughed. 

She stared up at Bucky and smiled softly at him. She had been friends with him and Steve since they were all children. 

Her whole life she had been a textbook fly on the wall, never truly standing out or being noticed by anyone. Except Bucky and Steve. 

Nobody really knew or cared about her except for them.

Her father had died near the start of the war and her mother had drifted away from her daughter as a result. 

Right when Juliet needed her mother’s comfort most, it seemed the woman was determined to spend all her days with her own sister and forget the existence of her daughter.

That was when her friendship with Bucky and Steve truly strengthened.

More than anything after her father died, she had just wanted to give up. To stay sealed in the tiny apartment she shared with her mother and forfeit hope altogether. 

They had been the only ones to stop her. They were the ones who tore her from the warm solace of her bedroom and pushed her out into the open world.

Bucky had even shown her the path towards her dreams of becoming a writer once again. 

Now, she spent almost every day with them, unwilling to inhabit a house with the same mother now spent the days drowning her sorrows in the every bottle of alcohol she could find.

It stung knowing that half her support chain would be gone. Bucky had become such a big part of her life in recent years and it burned deep in her chest to know that he may never be coming back.

More than anything she wanted to find some way to force him to stay or perhaps prolong his departure, but she knew it was no use. 

Orders are orders and if she forced him to disobey for her own selfish purposes, the consequences would be far greater than a firm scolding.

She took his hand and leant on his arm as they walked, taking all the comfort possible in his presence while he was still there.

It was times like these when she wanted to forfeit her ambitions of being an author and become an army nurse as she had tried to do just after her father’s death.

Sure, it would do a little more to prevent the body count from rising, but it would also help her keep her friends safe. They had protected her when she was at her lowest after all, why shouldn’t she protect them?

She sighed softly and glanced around at the near vacant city street. As the years at war passed, the Brooklyn streets seemed to grow thinner and thinner. It was only a matter of time until every able-bodied man was plucked from the streets and drafted into the fields of war.

“Where the hell is Steve?” Bucky mumbled, pulling Juliet’s mind out of the foggy haze of her own thoughts and back to the task at hand with his words.

As though to answer his question, they heard the sound of a body hitting garbage cans in an alley they passed. Bucky and Juliet froze and shared a look they had passed each other for years whenever they heard the distinct sounds of fighting and were unable to locate Steve.

“You just don’t know when to give up, do ya?” A voice snapped from within the alley.

“We’d better go,” Bucky mumbled, nodding to the dark alley.

“Yep,” Juliet sighed, already pulling her hair up in preparation for what was to come.

“I can do this all day,” they heard Steve’s breathless voice mutter and Bucky rolled his eyes at the very idea.

While his strength and perseverance were certainly admirable, they both could attest to the fact that Steve Rogers could most certainly not do this all day. He would champion over the fight in his determination, but they would end the day holed up in Bucky’s apartment with Juliet nursing him back to health.

She had never planned to know so much about medicine and fixing ailments, but growing up with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes as friends, she found she had no other choice. They often got into brutal fights that resulted in countless injuries, but no matter how hard she pushed they would never go to the hospital.

When they were younger, it was usually just because they hadn’t wanted their parents to find out about the fights they had gotten themselves into, but now she worried they had gotten into the habit of her fixing all their wounds.

They marched into the alley and the brute beating up Steve this week appeared to be about six feet tall, with curled dusty blonde hair and virtually no scars on him. As per usual, Steve had barely managed to get a single punch in.

Juliet’s eyes grew wide when the brute hit Steve once more and her short friend fell to the ground, immobile.

“Hey!” Bucky barked, tearing at the man’s clothes and whirling him around to face himself and Juliet. “Pick on someone your own size!” He yelled.

So, the thug did just that. He tried to toss a punch at Bucky, but his dodge was almost laughably easy.

Bucky then turned and punched him hard in the face, tossing him backwards a few steps.

While he was blindsided, Juliet kneed him in the groin and kicked him in the stomach, effectively forcing him out of the alleyway.

Bucky chuckled and high-fived Juliet, shaking his head at the guy as he scrambled away from them, likely assuming that two on one was  _ not  _ a fair fight. 

Juliet rushed over to Steve and helped him to his feet as he wiped at the blood on his lip. “You alright?” She prompted and Steve winced but nodded, forcing Juliet to roll her eyes. He was clearly in pain, yet he preferred claiming he was fine to admitting the guy could have killed him if he punched just a bit harder.

“Sometimes I think you like getting punched,” Bucky huffed, shaking his head at Steve as though he were a disappointed parent.

“I had him on the ropes,” Steve insisted with a groan.

Steve was a little guy, just hitting around five feet and skinny enough to make you worry if he’s getting enough to eat. He was small, sure, but there had not been a day in his life where he did not have the courage of a man twice his size. He stood his ground and though his frame made him appear far less threatening, he didn’t allow that to ever stand in the way of doing what he thought was right.

“Sorry, to rob you of your moment of glory then,” Juliet chuckled, peering down at Steve and worrying herself over the state of his nose.

“It’s nothing,” Steve sighed. “Don’t stress about it, Jules,” he muttered, waving he girl away from his face.

“Yeah, another broken nose is nothing to worry about,” Juliet scoffed, rolling her eyes at her friend. “Try saying that again when have to start breathing through your mouth all the time.”

She placed her hands on either side of nose and took a deep breath. “You might wanna hold onto something,” she advised.

Steve grabbed onto the lid of the trash can by his side and squeezed tightly. 

With a small crack, she set his nose back into place. Steve cried out in pain while she sighed softly and dabbed at some of the blood on his nose.

“I can get rid of the rest of this blood back at Bucky’s,” she informed him with a nod.

Steve placed a gentle hand on his nose and winced. “Y’know, you’d think that gets easier the more you do it,” he muttered and Juliet chuckled and shook her head at her friend.

Bucky on the other hand, frowned as he picked up a set of papers off the ground. He rolled his eyes at the sight of a small yet familiar sheet and waved for Juliet to come over and see. 

He sighed and shook his head at Steve. “How many times is this?” He wondered, glancing back at Juliet with a raised brow.

“I think this is the fifth now,” she sighed, eyeing Steve with a small frown.

“Oh, you’re from Paramus now,” Bucky remarked with a nod, glancing down at Steve as he wiped the dirt from his face.

“You can’t keep doing this, Steve,” Juliet moaned.

“You know it’s illegal to lie on your enlistment form,” Bucky reminded him with a nod.

“And seriously, Jersey?” Juliet scoffed, taking the sheet from Bucky to get a better look.

It was only then that Steve noticed Bucky’s uniform, falling late to the realization as Juliet had. His eyes widened at the sight of the uniform he hoped to don on his best friend.

“You get your orders?” Steve assumed with a raised brow.

Juliet glanced back at Bucky and her face fell at the return to conversation about his departure. She passed the paper back to Steve and sighed softly, hanging her head at the sight.

Bucky passed her a sympathetic gaze, knowing she didn’t want him to go and hating that he didn’t have a say in the matter. He took a deep breath and nodded. “One oh seventh, Sergeant James Barnes. Shipping out for England first thing tomorrow,” he announced.

Steve nodded and scoffed, hanging his head at his words. His father had been in the 107th. Like Juliet, both their Dads had died in the war. He had just hoped he would be able to join the same squadron as his father and do his old man proud.

“I should be going,” Steve mumbled.

Bucky eyed him for a moment, before chuckling and wrapping his arm around Steve and his other around Juliet. “Come on, man. Let’s not focus on that,” he sighed. “It’s my last night and we got some celebrating to do,” he said, grinning over at Juliet who felt her heart skip a beat at the very sight of his bright smile.

“Celebrating?” Steve frowned.

“Yeah,” Bucky sighed, tugging Juliet close to his chest and making her giggle. “Our Jules here has gotten a story in the newspaper.”

“No,” Steve gasped. “Really?” He prompted, peering around Bucky to raise a brow at his friend.

“Yeah,” Juliet smiled. “Bucky has insisted on spending the night to celebrate it,” she sighed, casting a quick but annoyed gaze up at him.

“Come on,” Bucky moaned. “It’s my last night. I should get to have the final say in what we do and I say we celebrate this new story with me taking you two some place amazing,” he hummed.

Juliet chuckled and shook her head, but was unable to find any way to argue with his statement.

Steve frowned up at Bucky. “Where are we going?” He wondered.

Bucky smirked and pulled out the newspaper Juliet had given him. He flipped to the advertisement he had seen that morning and passed it to Steve. “The future,” he sighed and Juliet giggled as she watched Steve’s eyes inflate at the ad.

“First we gotta get you cleaned up,” Juliet said, eyeing his bloodied shirt. “Can’t have you going out with blood all over you and bruises across your face,” she chuckled.

“She’s right,” Bucky nodded. “We’ll head back to my place, get your shirt washed and get you cleaned and ready to go.”

“Jesus, the way you two talk I’d feel like I’m just some kid you need to look after,” Steve sighed. 

“You are,” Juliet laughed. “Do you know any other guy in their twenties that gets into fights on a regular basis and gets the crap kicked out of him every time?”

“It’s not every time,” Steve moaned.

“Oh, you’re right,” Bucky chuckled. “We’re forgetting that one time you got a punch in when fighting that guy from Queens,” he said and both he and Juliet laughed.

“You guys are terrible,” Steve mumbled.

“Oh, Steve,” Juliet sighed. She moved out of Bucky’s hold and went around to Steve’s side to place her arm on his shoulder. “We think you’re amazing. We really do, but sometimes you just gotta know when enough is enough.”

“Yeah, what was the guy even doing this time that got you so angry with him?” Bucky wondered with a small frown.

“He was shouting at the enlistment ads in the theater. I asked him to show respect but he kept yelling when there were people thinking about their loved ones and crying in there. I eventually got fed up and yelled at his to shut up,” Steve said.

“Oh, big mistake,” Juliet hummed.

“And he stood up revealing he was about six feet tall,” Steve finished, nodding along with Juliet’s statement.

“Well, I’m sure he still learned a valuable lesson,” Bucky sighed, wrapping his arm around Steve once more.

“Maybe not, but at least you stood up to him?” Juliet offered with a small shrug.

Steve smirked, glancing between his two friends. “Thanks, guys.”

“Anytime,” Bucky smiled. “And, hey, even when I go off to England, at least you’ll be able to know Juliet can still be here kicking the asses of everyone else you upset,” he assured Steve.

Juliet laughed and nodded, crossing back over to Bucky’s side and grinning up at him. 

“That is if you don’t get arrested continuing to try your luck with illegal enlistment forms,” Juliet sighed. 

“Yeah, Steve, you’re bound to get caught one of these days, and then what are you gonna do? I’m shipping off and there’s no way Juliet can get you out of a military prison,” Bucky reminded him.

“I have to keep trying,” Steve insisted. 

“Steve, there’s no way they’re letting you in with your track record,” Juliet sighed. “I hate to be the pessimist here but you’ve gotta realize that asthma alone is enough to keep you out.”

“I know, but if I don’t keep trying then I’ll be giving up and that’s no exactly an option either,” Steve shrugged.

They rounded the corner to Bucky’s apartment and the trio began marching up the metal steps outside the building to the small doorway on the second floor.

“Alright, but if one of these days you call me from a military prison just know that I’m allowed to say, ‘I warned you about this’,” Juliet told him.

Bucky chuckled, fishing his key out of his pocket and unlocking the door while Steve just smirked and shook his head. He knew for a face if that day ever truly came, Juliet would try everything to get him out, even if it meant calling the uncle she hated that just so happened to be a fantastic lawyer.

She hadn’t spoken to the man since her father’s funeral when he would not stop insulting her Dad, but if it came down to it, she would bring him back into her life for Steve.

Bucky opened the door and there were loud barks followed by the soft sounds of laughter from a feminine voice.

Within moments, a large Golden Retriever leapt into the room and a young brunette bolted in after it. 

Juliet ignored both of them, all too accustomed to their presence by now while Bucky stooped to pet his dog and Steve dabbed at his bloody nose, passing an awkward wave to the girl.

Rebecca Barnes was Bucky’s youngest sister and filled with all the life that can possible contained in a girl the same age as Juliet. Just nineteen, she had moved in with Bucky after their parents had passed away and she shared a bond with her brother unlike any other. Rebecca adored Bucky and looked up to him in every way, shape and form. She wanted to be just like him, though her parents had not been as pleased with the idea as that meant she would be getting into fights and failing all her math classes just as he had. 

Bucky, on the other hand, adored her for it. He was fiercely protective of her and their father was highly amused when Bucky had wanted to interview all of Rebecca’s potential suitors before their old man could even get his hands on him. 

Rebecca was kind towards Juliet and often treated the girl with respect, but Juliet herself had never considered herself to be a friend of Rebecca’s. The girl was nice, sure, and they had shared many conversations that lead them both to believe they could be great friends, but they never really fell into the same circles at school.

Rebecca had her own group of friends and Juliet was more or less a ghost.

But it was fine. They were both comfortable in their own lives, even if that didn’t include a strong friendship with each other. 

However, Juliet did find that Bucky’s protective nature over his sister had begun to wash onto her. He grew protective of both the girls and though they were of course found in different forms, the emotions still held the same strength. It was part of the reason why he had been so determined to help Juliet when her father died.

It hurt to see her in so much pain and more than anything he wanted to keep her smiling for as long as he could.

Juliet headed into Bucky’s bathroom to grab some bandages out of the first aid kit while Rebecca peered at Steve’s wounds and laughed.

“Get into another fight again, Steve?” She guessed.

“Yeah,” Steve winced. “I almost had him this time too!” He exclaimed.

“I’ll bet,” Rebecca chuckled. “I’m sure if they had just given you a few more minutes you would have had him running for the hills,” she hummed. 

Steve sighed and nodded. “Exactly,” he mumbled.

Juliet headed back out with the bandages and walked Steve over to the small mucus green sofa that Bucky had bought cheap, assuming it had a certain charm about that. He had continued to stick to that claim until his dog peed across the couch and now he was doing everything in his power to get rid of it.

As soon as Steve and Juliet sat down, said dog leapt up and furiously fought to lick at Steve’s wounds.

“Urgh,” Steve muttered, trying to shove the dog away from his face.

Juliet just laughed and scratched the neck of the dog happily.

“Wilson!” Bucky laughed, running after the dog and pulling him off the couch by his collar.

“Aw, cut him some slack, Buck,” Juliet sighed as she began wiping away the blood from Steve’s wounds. “He just wants to say hello to Steve,” she smiled.

She laughed when Steve mumbled something that sounded like, “I’d rather him not say hello by jumping on every single one of my bruises.”

“He’s not allowed on that couch anymore,” Bucky huffed. “Isn’t that right?” He said in a baby voice, pinching the dog’s cheeks. “Not after you pissed over the whole goddamn seat and forced me to put my ugly blanket on that couch.”

“Grandma made you that blanket!” Rebecca exclaimed with large eyes.

“Yeah, and while that’d normally be a good thing, she made it when her eyesight started going back and as much as she says otherwise, she is not still a stellar knitter when she can’t see,” Bucky sighed.

“On the bright side, she was still able to yell at you to start shaving again when she couldn’t even see your damn face,” Juliet laughed. 

“That’s because I told her Bucky looks like a caveman,” Rebecca giggled and Juliet barked out a laugh.

“You did that?!” Bucky exclaimed. “I was freaked the hell out by that!” He snapped.

“I know,” Rebecca nodded, still laughing. “That’s why I did it.”

“Damn, he spent a good month theorizing to me about how he thinks his grandmother is not dabbling in witchcraft,” Steve snorted and the girls only laughed harder.

“Oh, just get your damn face cleaned up, Rogers,” Bucky hugged. “Stark’s expo isn’t going to wait forever.”

“Cool it, Bucky” Steve smirked. “We still gotta wash the shirt,” he reminded his friend.

“Oh, right,” Juliet moaned. She backed away from wiping up Steve’s face. And placed the bandages down. “Take off your shirt, Steve,” she instructed.

Steve nodded and with a few winces and groans of pain, he took off his shirt and revealed his torso riddled with bruises and cuts.

He froze when he saw everyone staring at his abdomen with large eyes. “What?” He frowned. “Is it really that bad?” He asked and began to look down.

“No, no!” Bucky exclaimed. “It’s fine, you’re fine,” he assured Steve with a nod.

Bucky shot Juliet a look with a raised brow that silently asked the question bouncing around both their minds.  _ Can she fix this _ ?

“I think so,” Juliet mumbled, her eyes still fixed on the wounds. “I hope so,” she amended with a sigh.

Steve glanced between the pair of them with a small frown. “Have I ever mentioned I hate when you guys do that thing where you talk to each other without actually speaking?” He implored and Bucky and Juliet shared a smirk.

They knew he hated it, but that hardly stopped them. They were able to communicate wordlessly due to knowing each other so well. Most of their days were spent together and those rare days where it wasn’t just the pair of them usually meant Steve had tagged along. They were best friends and confidants. They relied on each other for support and just about everything else in there lives.

In fact, Juliet was certain she was unable to recall a day where she had not spoken to Bucky at all. He had always been there for her and consequently, she, Bucky and Steve had all been there for each other.

It was as Bucky had told Steve after they accompanied him to his mother’s funeral: they were with him till the the end of the line.

“Yep,” Bucky chuckled. He snatched Steve’s shirt from the couch and tossed it to his sister. “Becca would you mind?” He prompted.

“Only if you agree to let me come with you to Stark’s expo,” Rebecca said and the three of them all turned to her so fast the might have simultaneously gotten whiplash.

“What?!” The trio exclaimed.

“Come on,” Rebecca whined. “I wanna go,” she insisted. “The advertisement said Stark’s going to have a flying car there at the demonstration.”

“Since when were you invested in science and technology?” Bucky wondered with a small frown.

“It’s a flying car, Bucky,” Rebecca snapped. “Everyone who’s anyone is going to be interested in that.”

Bucky sighed softly and glanced back at Steve and Juliet, awaiting their judgment on the manner.

Steve shrugged, uncaring if the young woman tagged along to the trip. He glanced at Juliet and she nodded. It was fine by her.

Bucky took a deep breath and rubbed his temple. “Alright, fine. But don’t go wandering off in the middle of the expo,” he instructed. “I don’t wanna have to spend my last night here trying to find you,” he warned.

“Fine by me!” Rebecca chirped, jumping up and running to go put Steve’s shirt through the wash.

“She’s gonna wander off isn’t she?” Juliet guessed with a knowing smirk.

“Not a doubt in my mind,” Bucky sighed. “You mind looking after her? I trust you can handle her when she’s running all over the place.”

“Sure,” Juliet giggled. “I’ll take her over after I finish helping Steve so maybe she can burn out all her energy before the flying car exhibit.”

“Thanks,” Bucky smiled. He headed into the kitchen and smirked as he glanced back at Juliet. He was going to miss her. That was a fact. He knew he was the type of person to go out onto the battlefield and die fighting for what was right. That was how his story ended and there were no doubts in his mind about that. He was marching into the gates of Hell with no return and he just prayed to everything good in the world that she didn’t try to follow him. 

She was too good and had such a bright future ahead of her and he’d hate to see that dampened by her feeling the need to run into the war head first just to keep him safe.

He sighed softly and headed to get some food, hoping to wipe away his worries for even a moment before he embarked on his last night with his two closest friends and his little sister.

He heard his sister return and Juliet sat up with a sigh. “Alright, Steve, you’re all patched up,” Juliet smirked. “Just don’t get into any more fights before Stark’s expo.”

“No promises,” Steve smiled and Juliet chuckled.

Bucky walked out and grinned at her. “You heading out?”

“Yeah,” Juliet sighed. “Bex, you ready to go?”

“What?” Rebecca frowned. “We’re going without them?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna meet them there,” Juliet shrugged. 

“Oh, I have to get dressed!” Rebecca cried.

Juliet groaned and rolled her eyes as the brunette bolted down the short corridor to their left and headed into her room. Bucky just chuckled as he watched her while Steve got up to get some snacks. Getting the shit kicked out of him really made him hungry.

Bucky smiled as he moved to let Steve into the kitchen, walking out to Juliet and grinning at her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow as she looked up to meet his cool blue eyes.

“You okay?” He prompted.

“I guess,” Juliet shrugged. “I just-,” she sighed and shook her head. “I know you don’t think you’re going to come back.”

Bucky paled and took a single step back, his face falling as he kept his eyes focused on every expression that passed Juliet’s face when she looked up at him.

“What makes you think that?” Bucky wondered.

“I can see it in you, Buck,” Juliet huffed. “I’ve known you practically my whole life. Do you really think I can’t tell when you look like you’re about to go out on a suicide mission?” 

Bucky paused for a moment, considering her words. He probably should have realized she would be able to read his face like her favourite novel at this point in their friendship. Nevertheless, it wasn’t going to change anything.

“That doesn’t matter,” Bucky mumbled, shaking his head and turning away.

“Yes, it does,” Juliet insisted, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to her. “It may not matter to you whether or not you die in this war but it matters to me!” She snapped. “ And if you die you there,” she paused, her voice shaking as she momentarily fell silent and fought back the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. “I’d be devastated,” she mumbled, meeting his wide blue eyes shining with worry and concern. “You’re my best friend, Bucky. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Bucky breathed, pulling her into a tight hug. “You’ll never lose me,” he assured her.

“You don’t believe that,” Juliet said, pulling out of his hug furiously and staring up at him. “I know you don’t and I know I can’t convince you to think otherwise, but at least just promise me that you’ll try your damndest to survive.”

Bucky took a deep breath and glanced down rather than responding.

“Bucky?” Juliet implored with a raised brow. 

Bucky sighed softly and nodded, finally returning her gaze. “Okay,” he said. 

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll try to survive. For you,” Bucky promised.

Juliet let out a desperate cry of relief and jumped into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck while he chuckled and hugged her back tightly.

She sighed softly as she fell back onto the ground. “Thank you,” she breathed as she gazed into his ocean blue eyes. She couldn’t imagine what life would be like if they had won the war, but Bucky was dead. She didn’t even want to picture it.

Bucky smiled down at her, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. “You’re welcome.”

Before she could utter another word, a bedroom door creaked open and Rebecca’s smiling face peered out. “Okay!” She exclaimed. “I’m ready to go,” she announced. She donned a peach dress and had her brown hair curled back perfectly with a small handbag on her arm.

Juliet scoffed and rolled her eyes at the sight while Bucky just laughed and shook his head at the girls. “We’ll meet you there soon, alright?”

“We’ll wait outside for you,” Juliet nodded. “Come on, Bex.”

“Bye, Bucky!” Rebecca called, waving to her brother as she took Juliet’s hand. “Bye, Steve!”

“Uh, bye Becca?” Steve frowned, peering out of the kitchen. He didn’t even realize they had been leaving. 

Rebecca giggled delightfully and the two women headed out to the expo.

~~~

Two hours later, Bucky and Steve headed out to the expo and Steve voiced his severe disappointment that he would not be shipping out with Bucky the next morning.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Bucky sighed, shaking his head at his friend. “You’re about to be the last eligible man in New York,” he reminded him. “Hell, there’s three and a half million women here,” he muttered, glancing around at all the girls at the expo.

“Well, it’s easy for you to say,” Steve shrugged. “You’ve got Jules already waiting for you.”

“Jules isn’t waiting for me,” Bucky frowned. 

Before Steve could contradict his words, a distant voice interrupted them.

“Hey, Bucky!” A girl called. 

They looked up and Bucky smiled when he saw Juliet and Rebecca waving to him. He smiled brightly and waved back.

“You do remember me trying to set you up with Rebecca, right?” Bucky prompted with a raised brow.

“And I remember at the end of the date I was walking her home and she said very seriously, ‘wait, this was supposed to be a date?!’” He remembered, shooting a quick glare at Bucky.

“Still, went better than that time I tried to set you up with Jules,” Bucky shrugged.

Steve sighed and rolled his eyes at the very memory. Neither he nor Juliet had been interested in each other in that manner, but that didn’t stop Bucky. He set them up for a date and while she did him the courtesy of showing up, before he could get two words out she told him how she couldn’t date him. She though he was nice, sure, but she couldn’t picture him in that sense at all and if she tried to sit with him and even pretend they were on a date she worried it could go very badly.

Nevertheless, Bucky never gave up. Though in hindsight, he probably should have because the dates and women only got worse from Juliet and his sister. 

Eventually Steve had to go to Juliet and ask her to tell Bucky to stop setting him up because the man would simply not listen to Steve.

After Juliet promised she would help, the dates quickly stopped to Steve’s relief. 

Now, he was left to his own devices when finding a girl and while that wasn’t easier at least he could pick out the ones that were just plain awful and not be forced to got out with women that just wanted to get to Bucky.

They marched up to the girls and Juliet immediately handed the men some ice cream with a smile.

“Where’d you get this?” Bucky wondered with a small frown. 

“There’s a stand just outside the building,” Juliet said, pointing in its general direction. “I got some for everybody, but Bex.”

“She said I was too hyper too have chocolate,” Rebecca pouted.

“In my defense, she dragged me to five different exhibits within fifteen minutes,” Juliet shrugged. “It’s hardly my fault that I wanted to add more sugar to her body.

Bucky chuckled and wrapped his arm around Juliet’s shoulders. “What flavor did you get me?”

“Your favourite,” Juliet smiled. “Chocolate with Oreo cookies sprinkled on top.”

“Fantastic,” Bucky hummed, immediately pulling out his spoon and digging in.

Steve seemed to be hesitating as he stared down at his cup and Juliet smirked. “You don’t need to worry. Those aren’t strawberry lumps in the vanilla. It’s cherry. I remembered your allergies,” she assured him.

Steve grinned and began digging into the ice cream as well while Juliet giggled.

“So, see anything good while you were here?” Bucky prompted with a raised brow.

“Well, there was-,” Julie began.

“Oh, that hardly matters!” Rebecca exclaimed with a wave of her hand. “Look, the flying car exhibition is starting now!” She cried, pointing toward the stage where a bright red car sat and Howard Stark began to march on.

“Or apparently that doesn’t matter,” Juliet scoffed and Bucky laughed, shaking his head at his little sister.

“Come on!” Rebecca yelled. She grabbed Bucky’s hand and he let out a quick startled cry ass she tugged him all the way to the front of the crowd.

Juliet laughed and shared an amused look with Steve before the pair of them headed forward to follow Bucky and Rebecca.

“Oh, there’s popcorn,” Steve frowned, glancing back at a stand to the left of them.

“Want me to hold your ice cream while you get some?” Juliet prompted with a raised brow.

“Sure,” Steve smiled and passed her his ice cream. “Thanks.”

Juliet nodded to him as he headed out of the crowd to get a small bag of popcorn.

“Where’s Steve going?” Bucky frowned.

“Popcorn,” Juliet said, nodding in the direction of the stand. 

“Popcorn and ice cream?” Bucky implored and Juliet just shrugged.

“Don’t leave it to me to figure out what goes on in his mind,” Juliet chuckled.

“Oh, he’s gonna puke again like he did at the World Series, isn’t he?” Bucky moaned. 

“Oh, God, I hope not,” Juliet gasped, glancing back at Steve. “Last time he puked on my shoes and I had to literally shove his head into the trash can,” she sighed and Bucky chuckled at the memory.

“Shh!” Rebecca snapped, placing her finger to her lips. “It’s starting!” She exclaimed with a large grin.

Bucky smiled and rolled his eyes at the sister he loved and just as Howard Stark got the mic, Steve returned with the popcorn.

Steve offered up the small bag to Juliet and she shook her head, holding up her ice cream in response. He nodded and they both turned their attention to the man on the stage.

Howard Stark was a tall and confident man. Upon first look, he hardly seemed the type to be creating such grandiose inventions as the one riddling the expo around them and yet he bore the kind of arrogance that showed he’d rather have his name slapped on these things before anybody else can get to it. He beamed down at the crowd and he had the startling ability to seem as though he was look at each individual person there along with nobody present all at once.

He was the type of man you knew you had to be friends with, but would keep your wallet close to your chest at the same time.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Howard exclaimed. “What if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won’t even have to touch the ground at all?”

As the ground gasped, Bucky just snorted and glanced down at Juliet. “Have to learn how to drive first,” he mumbled.

“Oh, shut up!” Juliet laughed, smacking his arm playfully while he chuckled. “I’ll learn soon, I’ve just been busy,” she sighed.

“Yeah, avoiding learning how too drive,” Bucky nodded.

Juliet rolled her eyes but was unable to fight the grin that forced its way onto her lips at Bucky’s playful teasing.

The showgirls on the stage removed the wheels from the red car and revealed some strange metallic objects with ‘Stark Industries’ etched on in small orange letter.

“Yes,” Howard sighed, pulling a podium out of the way so one of the girls could carry the wheel off stage. “Thanks, Mandy,” he mumbled. “With Stark Robotic Reversion Technology, you’ll be able to do just that,” he told the crowd with an arrogant smirk.

He flipped a switch on the podium and began slowly pulling up a lever and gradually, with a hum of electricity burning through it, the car began to lift off the ground.

“Oh, my God,” Juliet gasped, her eyes widening at the very sight. 

The car flew up to about three feet off the ground with a bright glow radiating off of the interior of Stark’s devices and leaving both Juliet and Bucky transfixed while Rebecca giggled in excitement.

“Holy cow,” Bucky breathed and all Juliet could do was nod furiously in agreement with the sentiment.

Howard took his hand off the podium and beamed out at the crowd, waving to the car as if to say, ‘see? I did it!’

That was until, the interiors of his devices of the car began sparking and with a loud crash and thud the car fell back to the floor.

“Oh,” Rebecca smiled, still amused despite the failure.

Juliet chuckled at the sight of Howard running over to get a look at the devices. She glanced up at Bucky who just smiled and shook his head, admiring Howard’s effort.

“Well, I did say a few years, didn’t I?” Howard smirked, falling back into his regularly charming demeanor as the crowd clapped.

Juliet laughed and turned back to Bucky with a soft sigh.

“You wanna take a quick look around before heading out?” She prompted with a raised brow.

“Sure, then Steve, what do you say we treat these girls to-,” he began and his face fell when he turned and Steve wasn’t there.

Juliet’s eyes grew wide as she spotted the missing man as well. “I guess we should have been more worried about Steve running off rather than your sister,” she sighed.

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbled, his gaze still tracking the crowd to try and find where Steve might have gone. “Do you think-?”

“It’s fine,” Juliet nodded. “Bex, hold my ice cream. Bucky and I are going to find Steve.”

“Alright,” Rebecca sighed. “But after this can we go dancing?” She asked.

“Sure, yeah, just let us find your partner first,” Bucky muttered.

He held out his hand to Juliet and she smiled before taking it and running off with him to find their friend.

They glanced through the crowd furiously until Juliet laid eyes on a small poster that said ‘Enlist Now’.

Juliet sighed and tapped Bucky on the shoulder. “I think I might have figured out where he went,” she mumbled.

Bucky followed her line of sight and groaned at the sight of the enlistment request. “He knew we were joking about his enlistment, right? He knows now to try his luck a sixth time?” He hoped.

“I guess we’re gonna have to find out,” Juliet sighed. “I just wish he would be able to accept the fact that he can’t get in. I mean, I may joke, but I don’t want to see him tossed in prison because he just could take no for an answer.”

“Me neither,” Bucky shook his head. “Maybe, this time we can get to him before that happens.”

“We can only hope,” Juliet muttered. 

They reached Steve just as he was standing on the small podium. The light above him lit up and in the center of the picture there was a soldier with a shadowed face saluting. The person standing on the podium was likely meant to have their face shown in the soldier, but Steve was too short and only his eyes were visible in the shadowed face.

Bucky took a deep breath and tapped Steve’s shoulder. “Come on,” Bucky smiled. “This is supposed to be a night out celebrating and you’re kinda missing the point,” he smirked.

Steve turned around and greeted the pair with sad eyes. 

“Come on, Steve,” Juliet sighed, placing her hand on his shoulder and attempting to level with the man. “There’s this exhibit of a synthetic man that I just know you’ll love.”

“You go ahead,” he muttered, nodding the pair onward. “I’ll catch up with you.”

Bucky and Juliet shared a knowing look and glanced down at the words ‘Enlist Now!’ at the bottom of the sign.

“You really gonna do this again?” Bucky muttered.

They could joke and tease him all they wanted, but at the end of the day, both Bucky and Juliet just wanted to look out for Steve and knowing he was submitting phony enlistment forms to the Army did not exactly make matters easy.

“Well, it’s a fair,” Steve shrugged. “I’m gonna try my luck.”

“As who, Steve from Ohio?!” Juliet exclaimed.

“They’ll catch you,” Bucky reminded Steve. It was not a question of it would happen, it was a question of when. There were only so many times Steve could get by scot-free on this. “Or worse, they’ll actually take you and you know neither of us have the means to get you your freedom again once they do.”

Steve sighed and hung his head. “Look, I know neither of you think I can do this-.”

“This isn’t about that, Steve!” Juliet cried. 

“This isn’t a back alley, Steve. It’s  _ war _ ,” Bucky reminded him. 

“I know it’s a war,” Steve sighed. “You don’t have to tell me that it’s a war.”

“Well, you seem dead set on forgetting that you can’t fight, so we have to remind you,” Juliet snapped.

“Why-Why are you so keen on fighting?!” Bucky demanded. “There are so many important jobs,” he insisted. 

“You could do anything else. You don’t have to fight and die to prove something,” Juliet said with a nod.

“What am I gonna do?” Steve scoffed. “Collect scrap metal-.”

“Yes!” Bucky exclaimed.

“In my little red wagon?”

“Why not?” Bucky wondered.

“I’m not gonna sit in a factory while some-.”

“Steve, that’s the safest route for you,” Juliet insisted.

“Jules,” Steve sighed.

“Come on, there are a million other ways for you to help,” Bucky told him.

“Bucky, Bucky, come one,” Steve moaned. “There are men laying down there lives! I got no right to do any less than them,” he said and Juliet rolled her eyes, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes and sighing. “That’s what neither of you understand. This isn’t about me.”

Juliet scoffed and turned away, unable to look into the face of the man who continuously jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire as though it were just no big deal.

“Right,” Bucky mumbled, his tone conveying that he didn’t believe a word Steve said. “‘Cause you got nothing to prove,” he said, knowing that wasn’t the truth.

While Juliet had recovered from her desperate need to join the Army nurses for her father, Steve had not lost that urge to join the 107th and fight just as his father had. 

Steve’s efforts were commemorable just as Juliet’s had been and maybe both of them had a small voice in their minds telling them that helping their country survive the war was why they had to go, but they both know the only thing that had set them on that path were the deaths of their fathers.

Juliet saw the same desperation she had worn when she tried to become a nurse mirrored in Steve’s eyes, and she wanted to do whatever possible to keep him from fighting and dying just as his father had, or spending years locked up in prison just because of this need to become a soldier like his old man.

Steve just looked down at Bucky’s statement and Juliet stepped forward.

“Just because your Dad died fighting doesn’t mean you need to do the same,” Juliet muttered.

“This isn’t about that,” Steve shook his head.

“Yes, it is, Steve,” Juliet nodded. “But that’s okay. I just don’t want to see you dead on some battlefield because you couldn’t let go of your father’s honour. You’re a good guy,” she smiled, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We can’t lose you,” she said.

Steve smiled up at her and she took a deep breath before turning back to Bucky and raising a brow.

Bucky simply nodded and hung his head. They would let him go, no matter what the consequences may be.

“Juliet, Buck!” Rebecca’s voice called. “Are we going dancing or what?!”

Bucky chuckled softly and turned back to her with a smirk. “Yes, we are!” He exclaimed and Bucky smiled. 

He turned back to Steve and sighed softly. “Don’t do anything stupid until we get back?” He implored.

“How can I?” Steve smirked. “Taking all the stupid with the two of you.”

Bucky and Juliet shared a smirk and Bucky walked back up to pull Steve into a tight hug. “Punk,” he muttered.

“Jerk,” Steve smiled.

Bucky pulled away and Steve turned to hug Juliet. “You’re a goddamn fool, you know that Steve?”

“And you’re an idiot,” Steve grinned, pulling away and making her laugh.

“Right, let’s go see  this synthetic man before the night is up,” Bucky smiled, taking Juliet’s hand into his.

“Be careful,” Steve said. “Don’t win the war till I get there!” He called.

Bucky grinned and turned around, pausing momentarily to salute Steve who smiled at the sight.

“See you tomorrow!” Juliet called over her shoulder as she headed down the steps with Bucky.

“See you tomorrow,” Steve sighed, nodding as he watched her head out with Bucky and his sister.

Steve took a deep breath and turned back to the corridor, just missing the German man with greying hair that had been watching their whole conversation.


	3. Last Nights

Juliet, Bucky and Rebecca all headed inside the dance hall while the band played Frank Sinatra “Two In Love”.

“Ricky!” Rebecca cried and immediately bolted off somewhere in the crowd to presumably meet up with some friend.

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Juliet chuckled.

“Tell me about it,” Bucky sighed. “You wanna get some drinks?” He proposed, gesturing vaguely toward the small bar to the left side of the room.

“Sure,” Juliet nodded.

They headed through the dancing crowd to the bar and Bucky ordered them two Sidecars.

They sat down side by side on the stools and Juliet glanced back with a small smile as she heard Rebecca be pulled into a dance by who she assumed to be Ricky with a giggle.

“She’s going to miss you,” Juliet mumbled. “We both are,” she sighed, turning her attention back to Bucky.

“I’ll miss you too, Jules,” Bucky smiled, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “After all it’s been ages since we’ve been apart for longer than what, a day?” He guessed.

Juliet chuckled and hung her head, granting a quick dash of a grin towards the bartender as he slid their drinks to them. 

“Now, I have to keep Steve out of getting arrested all by myself,” Juliet mumbled.

“And keep him out of fights,” Bucky chuckled. He turned and eyed Juliet warily as she took a swig of her drink. “You’re gonna be fine, you know that?”

“I know,” Juliet nodded, her voice cracking as though she were trying to convince herself more of that fact than him. “I just wish you didn’t have to go,” she shrugged.

“I do too,” Bucky sighed. “Believe me,” he murmured, turning on the stool to look out at the crowd flooded with men in Army uniforms. “I wish I could stay here more than anything.”

“I miss the days when we were just kids talking about the first war like it was the craziest thing that could happen in the world,” Juliet sighed.

“And now we’re stuck in this mess,” Bucky nodded in agreement. “It’s days like these when I wish I could go back to when our biggest problem was those sleazes hitting on you in the street.”

Juliet scoffed and nodded. “And here I was thinking the worst thing that could happen was one of those assholes getting their hands on me.”

“Y’know I’m starting to think we were lied to when we were kids,” Bucky hummed.

“What?” Juliet frowned, turning to raise a brow at him. 

“Growing up isn’t fun,” Bucky sighed. “It’s shit,” he chuckled, glancing over at her with a small smile.

Juliet spared him a wide eyed gaze for a single moment before dissolving into laughter, wishing for the happiness to flood her body and overwhelm her senses in the wake of what would happen tomorrow morning.

“I wish I could go back to those days,” Juliet mumbled, looking up and smiling softly at Rebecca as Ricky twirled her on the dance floor. She and Rebecca were the same age and yet she felt so much more burdened by worry and stress than the young girl. “I wish we could all just be kids again and our biggest worries would be whether or not we could finish Mrs Finch’s English essays on time.”

“And making fun of Steve and how terrible he was in English,” Bucky chuckled and nodded.

“In his defense he was great at math where we both-.”

“Flunked it tremendously?” Bucky smirked. “Yeah, we were terrible,” he hummed.

“Why is it that you can only be really good at science or math and really bad at English or vice versa?” Juliet sighed.

“Or you can be like those kids that can do it all,” Bucky nodded.

“Ugh, I used to hate those kids,” Juliet laughed. “They’d be like, ‘oh, I’m going to do so terrible on this test,’ and leave with a 95!” She snapped. She glanced over at Bucky and sighed deeply. “Still, I’d take those days over right now.”

“Oh, come on, Jules,” Bucky sighed. “Now, you’ve got a story in the paper like you’ve always dreamed. Do you really wanna take the days of dealing with homework and classes and both of our mother’s pressuring us to get jobs over that?”

“This is just a step in the right direction Bucky and you know that,” Juliet shrugged. “First I want a story in the papers, then I want to release my very own book, then I want to become a world renowned author like F. Scott Fitzgerald or somebody really famous.”

“Ugh, I hated Great Gatsby,” Bucky murmured, wincing at the memory.

“You shouldn’t,” Juliet shook her head. “I keep saying it’s very you.”

“What a wealthy guy gets shot in the pool and nobody comes to his funeral?” Bucky scoffed.

“No,” Juliet moaned, rolling her eyes at the fact that he could assume that was what she meant. “The misunderstood hero,” she sighed. “All Gatsby did was fall in love with a woman who was already in a bad marriage, I mean her husband was cheating on her, and when she makes a mistake-.”

“She killed somebody with his car, Jules,” Bucky deadpanned.

“Details, details,” Juliet sighed, waving him away as he laughed. “What I meant was he sacrificed everything for this girl he loved and in the end he didn’t get that reigning hero all along ending, but everyone knows he would’ve done it again because of how much he loved Daisy,” she shrugged. “That strikes me as very you.”

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbled, taking another gulp from his Sidecar. “Maybe it is,” he conceded. “But if you kill someone with my car I’m not gonna die for it in my pool,” he said.

She glanced over at Bucky, laughing as she finished off her Sidecar and smiled. She would miss days like this. Days where they could just sit and talk and laugh without any worries of their futures or what tomorrow may bring. That night they sat there with no thoughts or ideas of a future past tomorrow.

Bucky sighed as he spun around in his chair and place the glass back on the table.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Bucky muttered. 

“And what would that be?” Juliet implored, raising a brow at him.

“I’m leaving you alone,” Bucky shrugged, turning to face her with sadness in his eyes. “I’m leaving you alone with your mother and there’s not a thing either of us can do about it.”

“Not so much thinking as I am hating that fact,” Juliet nodded. “I know I’m all she has left but sometimes I don’t want to be,” she mumbled. “Sometimes I wish I could be just like all the other girls and not have some drunk mother to worry about when I go home tonight.”

“You don’t want to be like other girls, Jules,” Bucky shook his head, frowning at his best friend. “Trust me. I’ve seen them. They’re all shit compared to you.”

Juliet chuckled softly and turned away. “And what? I’m special because I’ve got a dead Dad and a fucked up mother who barely says two words to me anymore?”

“I’m not saying that makes you special, I’m saying that makes you who you are. You’re not trying to be an imitation of everyone you see out there. You stay here and you take care of your mother. You don’t try to bury her and act like some cheap copy. You accept the life you’ve been given and you make it your own. That’s what makes you who you are. You keep that hand you’ve been dealt and use it to your advantage rather than trading it in for a copy of someone else’s cards. You refuse to become anyone other than the incredible Juliet Markus I’ve known my whole life,” Bucky grinned.

Juliet turned to him with a small smile and pulled him into a hug. “What would I do without you?” She wondered. 

“Oh, come on,” Bucky scoffed. “You’re just as great without be as you are with me.”

“No,” Juliet shook her head. “I’m better with you,” she insisted. “That’s why this hurts so much.”

“I know,” Bucky sighed. “But we’ll make it through,” he assured her with a nod. “I’m surviving for you, remember? I’ll survive this war for you as long as you promise to do the same.”

Juliet smiled softly and nodded. “I promise. I’ll survive.”

Just then a soft song began rolling through the dance hall that made Juliet’s whole face light up. It was Frank Sinatra, “All My Tomorrows”.

“Oh, my God,” Juliet gasped.

Bucky’s eyes widened as he realized. They were playing Juliet’s favorite song. Her and her father used to adore it. He stood up with a sigh and held out his hand, smirking softly at Juliet. 

“Shall we?” He prompted.

Juliet beamed at him and hopped off the stool. “It would be my pleasure,” she mumbled.

Bucky grinned as he took her hand and lead her off the dance floor. 

They danced slowly together and Juliet willed herself to not think of what tomorrow may bring. She wanted to exist in this one moment, dancing in Bucky’s arms, forever. She didn’t want to have to deal with more war and more casualties as were destined to come. She just wanted to be with her best friend on the dance floor, safe and happy. 

She remembered when she first met him a lifetime ago when she was still in kindergarten. She had been three at the time and he and Steve had both been five years old. She had watched when Bucky saved Steve from being picked on. They had become close friends after that, but she was just a loner.

That was until the day their teacher did a project pairing everyone up into partners. As expected, she had nobody and a few kids started to laugh at the girl sitting all alone at a table by herself.

She had never spoken to any of her classmates, so why should they want to be friends with her? Still, the way they insulted her so openly still burned.

They called her a mute. They called her deaf. They said she was more like a ghost than an actual person. She never spoke to anyone, she never interacted with anyone, why shouldn’t they make that assumption?

Rather than think she was too afraid to talk to kids she didn’t know, they laughed at her. 

That was until Bucky and Steve sat on either side of her. Without her saying a word, Bucky informed her they would now all be friends and they would be damned if they let those kids say another mean word about her again. 

Through the rest of the year, the teacher had to fight with the trio relentlessly to stop doing partner projects as a group.

It never worked.

When Bucky and Steve left to join the first grade, Juliet thought she was going to have to face that all encompassing loneliness again. She thought for the next two years she would have to suffer until she could approach the appropriate age to go to school and walk through the halls with her best friends.

That was until she walked out of class that first day back and found none other than Bucky Barnes out waiting for her.

_ “I didn’t want you to be lonely,” _ he’d said. That day he went home with her and they spent the entire afternoon hanging out at her place.

From that day forward, Bucky Barnes never let Juliet feel lonely again.

On the dance floor, Juliet looked up at Bucky with a soft sigh. “Promise me you’ll write as much as possible.”

“Of course,” Bucky smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise,” he shrugged.

Juliet grinned and giggled as he twirled her around happily. 

He only froze when he spotted his sister with Ricky in the distance. The boy was whispering something in his sister and while Rebecca appeared delighted, Bucky wasn’t so pleased.

“Jules,” Bucky murmured. He tapped Juliet’s shoulder and gestured to them. 

Juliet frowned and glanced over with large eyes. “Maybe, he’s asking her out?” She suggested with a shrug.

“Yeah, if asking her out means inviting her to his bedroom,” Bucky muttered. “I’m going over there.”

“No, Bucky, don’t,” Juliet huffed. She grabbed his arm and tried to keep him away from making a scene. “Rebecca looks happy and you’ll only make a scene.”

“I don’t care,” Bucky snapped. “She needs to know that he only plans on having sex with her then never inviting her out again and I’ll be damned if I let her go through that heartbreak.”

“Bucky!” Juliet moaned. “Bucky!” She snapped when he pulled out of her grasp.

He marched over toward Ricky and Rebecca and Juliet darted after him.

“Bucky, don’t do this!” Juliet cried.

“Hey!” Bucky barked. “What the hell did you tell my sister?!”

“What the fuck, man?” Ricky muttered, backing away, his hands raised in surrender. 

“What did you tell her?” Bucky demanded.

“Bucky, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Rebecca shrieked.

“How long have you know him, Bex?” Bucky asked, turning on his sister. “How long have you known this guy?”

“I dunno,” Rebecca shrugged. “We met at the ice cream stand two weeks ago. Can you please calm down?!” She exclaimed, casting her gaze over her shoulder. “You’re making a scene,” she said, staring at the people turning to watch them with large eyes.

“You invited her to her place didn’t you?” Bucky said, clenching his jaw at the man before him. 

“Yeah, so what?” Ricky shrugged.

Juliet’s eyes widened as she focused on Ricky’s left hand. Right on his ring finger there were two rings of red around it. There were the marks of a ring that had been left on for a long period. 

If she squinted, she was sure that in his pant pocket she could see the outline of a small circle.

“Jules, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Bucky prompted.

Juliet scoffed and shook her head, running her fingers though her blonde hair. 

Bucky could overreact sometimes, but he sure did have a damn good read on people, and once again he was not wrong.

“Yeah,” Juliet nodded. “When were you planning on telling my friend’s sister that you were married, Ricky?”

“What?!” Rebecca exclaimed, turning around with wide eyes.

“That’s not-,” Ricky scoffed, shaking his head furiously. “That’s a lie!”

“Really?” Bucky rolled his eyes. “You wanna call my best friend a liar?  Why don’t you reach into your right pant pocket and prove that?”

“I just-I,” Rickey began, his pupils dilated so large they could barely see his eyes. 

Without saying another word, he pushed Bucky backwards and bolted.

~~~

Bucky, Juliet and Rebecca all walked home together that night through the empty Brooklyn streets. Juliet held Rebecca in her arms as the young brunette sobbed over Ricky.

“I thought he loved me,” Rebecca murmured.

“I know,” Juliet sighed, combing her hands through the hair of the girl sadly. “I know.”

Bucky smiled as Juliet looked up at him with a small smirk. “Some way to celebrate your paper, huh?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Juliet shrugged. “I had fun.”

“Really?” Bucky frowned.

“Yeah,” Juliet smiled. “I mean I got to see you lose your shit which is always fascinating,” she chuckled and Bucky smiled. 

“I guess there could have been worse ways to spend a last night,” Bucky decided with a nod.

“Yeah,” Juliet hummed. “That guy could have knocked you out right away like most of her boyfriends do when you go charging in.”

“Hey!” Bucky exclaimed and Juliet laughed. “It’s no every time,” he mumbled.

“Just most times,” Juliet giggled and nodded. “It’s okay though. It’s very admirable every time.”

They rounded the corner and started up the steps to his apartment and Bucky just moaned. “Oh, come on,” Bucky sighed. “Don’t give me that. That’s what we tell Steve when he’s had his face bashed in by one of those assholes he picks a fight with.”

“Oh, and you don’t pick a fight with assholes?” Juliet scoffed. “Please, you two are exactly the same. He’s just smaller and has a harder time fighting back against the dickheads he pisses off.”

“You always seem to get out fine, though,” Bucky remarked. He opened the door for them and they all headed inside.

Rebecca ran straight to her room, likely to cry over Ricky.

“Yeah,” Juliet sighed as she heard the door slam. “Take the extra precaution of a father who wanted a son and two idiots who get into trouble as friends and you’d be as  good in a fight as I am,” she smirked.

Bucky nodded, chuckling softly. “Your Dad was a great guy.”

“Yeah,” Juliet sighed. “He was always looking out for us whenever Mom was being the irrational overprotective parent.”

“He gave us our first beers,” Bucky smiled and nodded.

“And he allowed you to stay in my room the entirety of the next day when we were throwing up together,” Juliet giggled. She remembered thinking on that day as she shared a toilet bowl with Bucky how soon that would turn into just another funny memory she would look back on fondly. Funny, how despite that being just three years ago, it felt like a lifetime had passed. “Now, he’s dead and my mother only finds solace in alcohol. Oh, how time changes.”

“You’ll be alright taking care of her on your own,” Bucky assured her with a kind nod. “This kinds of stuff,” he sighed. “You’re really good at it.”

“What, mothering?” Juliet scoffed. “I specifically remember us dropping that baby doll my Mom got me for Christmas off the balcony a thousand different times when we were kids.”

“No,” Bucky chuckled. “Not mothering,” he shook his head. “I mean taking care of the people you care about,” he amended. “I mean, hell, you’ve been taking care of Steve and I all our lives.”

“I didn’t really have a choice did I?” Juliet smiled. “It was either that or just let you guys suffer with broken bones because the idea of telling your parents was  _ so  _ terrible…”

“Hey, you know what my Mom would have done if she found out I was in fights all the time!” Bucky exclaimed. 

“She would have let you off easier than I did when you showed up at my house in the middle of the night while it was pouring down rain with blood smeared across your face,” Juliet scoffed, tossing her coat onto the sofa and plopping down atop it as Wilson ran up to her. 

“You gave me a blanket and a place to sleep, didn’t you?” Bucky smirked. “It could have been worse,” he shrugged. 

“Yeah, but don’t start thinking I was all pleased about having to sneak you out the next morning so my parents didn’t think we had sex,” Juliet sighed. “Then we would have both been fucked. Royally.”

“My Mom would’ve had a cow,” Bucky chuckled.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Juliet snickered. “Still, Steve always got more damage than you after every fight.”

“That’s because he’s tiny,” Bucky nodded, heading into the kitchen to get them both sodas. “They have less to punch when they’re beating the shit out of him.”

He brought the sodas in and passed on to Juliet before sitting down by her side. 

“Do you ever wonder where we’d be if we didn’t become friends?” Juliet mumbled, staring down at her soda rather than meet his gaze. “Like where each of us would be in life if we hadn’t become friends with each other in kindergarten?”

Bucky’s eyes widened and he leant back on the sofa to think. “Well, you and Steve would probably become friends regardless,” he shrugged.

“You think?” Juliet frowned, leaning back as well against his outstretched arm.

Yeah,” Bucky nodded. “I don’t think I can see a life where you and Steve never met.”

“But what about you?” Juliet wondered.

“Well, I-,” he sighed. “I’d probably be hanging around about of douchebags never really knowing or meeting my real friends,” he said, smiling down at her.

“Aw, that’s just sad,” Juliet pouted.

“It’s the truth,” Bucky smiled. 

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Bucky sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ve got a lot of people who’d rather spend time with me for looks rather than personality,” he shrugged.

“I know,” Juliet scoffed. “Every girl who’s ever talked to me, apart from your sister, has asked me to talk to you for them.”

“I never got those messages,” Bucky frowned.

“That’s because I didn’t give them to you,” Juliet smirked. “Oh, don’t give me that look,” she moaned. “I’m not harboring a secret love for you or anything. They were just bitches who didn’t even try to pretend to want to be my friend before become their personal secretaries.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Bucky smiled. “Still sure you’re not harboring some intense crush you’ve been keeping secret all these years and are just dying to let loose on my last night here?” He smirked.

“Oh, shut up!” Juliet laughed, pushing him to the side while he laughed. “While you sit drowning in your ego I’m gonna go check on Bex,” she said, standing up and placing her cup on the coffee table.

“Okay,” Bucky nodded. “By the way, do you wanna stay here tonight?” He prompted with a raised brow.

“What?” Juliet asked, turning with a small frown.

“Well, you’ve stayed here overnight a bunch of times before and I figured since it’s my last night,” Bucky trailed off and shrugged.

Juliet smiled and nodded. “Sure. Do I have some clothes still here?”

“Yeah, in the guest room you’ve decided is your room,” Bucky chuckled, gesturing to the room down the corridor.

Juliet grinned at the sight of the closed door. When Bucky first moved into that apartment, he had three bedrooms. He knew one was going to be for himself and another for his sister, but he decided Juliet and Steve could alternate between using the guest room since he didn’t really have guests. 

That was, until Steve went out of town to his grandparents for three months and Juliet used the guest bedroom practically every other night.

Since then it was determined that it was hers and Steve slept on the sofa.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Bucky,” Juliet sighed.

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbled, staring down at the ground. “I’m guessing I’m gonna need some rest before heading to England.”

“You got a long day ahead of you,” Juliet nodded.

“Right,” Bucky sighed. He got up from the sofa begrudgingly and feigned a smile that they both knew wasn’t true. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you then,” Juliet nodded.

And with that, Bucky headed off to bed.

~~~

That morning, they dropped Bucky off at the train station so he wouldn’t have to take a car and risk being late to his place because of traffic. Steve and Juliet headed back to her house so she could grab a beer and try to numb the pain of losing Bucky, but all too soon, Steve came marching forward with his own piece of news for her to see.

“You’re gonna what?!” Juliet shrieked. 

“I’m joining the Army,” Steve smirked, passing her the enlistment form that read ‘1A’ rather than the usual odd number pair with an ‘F’.

“How-What-How- What the hell did you get into while we were out dancing?!” She exclaimed. “And why didn’t you tell Bucky at the train station this morning?!”

“I didn’t want to worry him and I-,” Steve began but was cut off by the sound of a loud phone ringing on the wall.

“Hang on!” Juliet snapped. She marched over to the phone and tore it off its receiver. “What?!” She yelled into the phone.

There was a pause as she listened to the person on the other end of the line speaking. The she groaned and turned to where her mother was still passed out on the couch, a beer bottle balanced delicately between her index and middle fingers.

“Mama!”  She moaned. She carried the phone over to the couch and poked her mother who simply groaned amidst her slumbler. “Mama, it’s Charlie again,” she sighed.

“Who?” Her mother mumbled, her words muffled as he face was currently pressed against the couch. 

“Charlie,” Juliet repeated with a sigh. “Look, will you just,” she muttered and tossed the phone onto her mother’s cheek. “Come on, Steve,” she said, grabbing her friend’s arm and pulling him out to the balcony. 

“I don’t understand how you put up with this,” Steve frowned, glancing back into the apartment where Juliet’s mother was draining the last drops of her beer bottle. “Half the time she’s unconscious, the other half she’s too drunk to understand a thing you’re saying. I mean, you’re supporting her now,” he reminded his friend.

“I know,” Juliet mumbled. “But what choice do I have?” She shrugged, pulling a pack of cigarettes out from her hiding spot in a small plant on the balcony and lighting one up. 

“You could live with me or Buck,” Steve insisted. “You don’t have to deal with this.”

“I’m all she’s got, Steve,” Juliet sighed. “What is she gonna do when I’m not here to make sure she eats and drinks something that doesn’t have alcohol in it?”

“Jules, this is killing you,” Steve reminded her. “You’ve said it yourself. You hate being here because it’s draining looking after her.”

“It’s better than tossing her into some hospital where they’ll pump God knows what drugs into her,” Juliet shrugged. “At least I can look after her here. I know what she needs and I know how to help.”

“You could get a nurse to come in, or-,” Steve began.

Juliet just shook her head forlornly, blowing the smoke away from Steve’s face as she exhaled. “You know I can’t afford that. I’m just now starting to rake in a little more money with the papers printing my stories. I can’t afford to lose all that now, and I’m not going to go into the Army to become a nurse. Not after Bucky fought so hard to keep me out of it.”

“Do you think he’s gonna be mad if he sees me there?” Steve winced.

Juliet scoffed and shook her head as she glanced down at Steve’s enlistment form once more. “I still can’t believe you managed to sweet talk your way into the Army,” she muttered.

“It wasn’t that,” Steve shook his head. “I met this doctor and he said- well, he said he’d offer me a chance.”

“He knew about all your diseases too?” Juliet frowned.

“I don’t have that many diseases,” Steve huffed. “I just-.”

“Have allergies to seven different common household items, have exposure to several contagious diseases, and could possible be exposed to a deadly one after your Mom,” she listed. “You may not have them, but you’re still at risk.”

“That doesn’t mean-,” Steve began.

“I know,” Juliet sighed. “That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to fight. You’ve been singing that same song to Bucky and I since the war began,” she muttered. 

Juliet dropped her cigarette and nodded to Steve to head out. They headed back into the living room where her mother was chattier than either of them had seen in months as she talked on the phone to a person Steve assumed to be her boyfriend. 

“Mom, going out!” Juliet called as she grabbed one of her bags.

Rather than respond, her mother just waved her out and asked her boyfriend to repeat what he said.

Juliet scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Typical,” she mumbled. “Come on,” she said, holding the door open for Steve. He smiled at her and she locked the door before heading down the steps out onto the not-so-busy Brooklyn streets. Since the war, activity in the once lively city had died down considerably.

“Where are we going?” Steve wondered.

“Anywhere but there,” Juliet murmured, casting a side eye towards her apartment. She turned back to Steve and sighed as she draped an arm on his shoulder. “Now, I don’t say you can’t be in the war because I’m trying to be some awful, overbearing friend. Hell, you watched me as I said goodbye to Bucky. It sucked, but I said it,” she nodded. “The point is, Steve, you have asthma. I can’t imagine you getting through even one of their drills without having an attack.”

“I know,” Steve sighed. “But the guy who helped me get in was a doctor, so many he knows a way to fix it or help me?” Steve suggested, brightening at his own idea.

“Maybe,” Juliet mumbled. “But either way I’m going to tell Bucky when his first letter comes. It’s not to rat you out or anything, I just think he deserves to hear this for himself.”

“Okay,” Steve mumbled. “I just- I didn’t want to turn it all around on me when we were saying goodbye at the train station. His sister already looked devastated enough and you-.”

“I know,” Juliet nodded. “I was hardly in any state to hear you announcing you’re going to fight in the Army either,” she said. “Then again, I don’t think I was ever ready to hear that,” she muttered.

“I’ll be okay,” Steve assured her with a small smile. He glanced over and saw her hanging her head, kicking glumly at a small pebble by her feet. 

“Yeah, that’s what my Dad said,” she sighed. “I just-I don’t exactly love the idea that my two best friends are leaving one after the other,” she shrugged. “I know I shouldn’t become a nurse, but-.”

“No, Jules,” Steve snapped. “You know Bucky would kill you if he ever saw you on the battlefield with him.”

“I could say the same to you,” Juliet chortled. “But never mind that,” she shook her head. “I know I shouldn’t. I just wish there was some way for me to be there for you two.”

“You don’t have to be in the war for us to know that,” Steve muttered. “After all, I know Bucky could forgive me for enlisting, but you?”

Juliet laughed and shook her head. “Oh, he’d never let me hear the end of it,” she chuckled. “I’d spent the whole rest of the war with him talking my ear off about how stupid giving up journalism was.”

“In his defense, he’s not wrong,” Steve smirked. “I read your story in the paper. I know it was small, but it was good. They’d be crazy not to give you bigger pieces.”

“Thanks, Steve,” Juliet smiled. “I just, I don’t know, this seems to be the only thing I have a real knack for,” she shrugged. “I suck at math and though I love watching it, I’ll never understand a lick of science. Writing is the only thing I’m really good at.”

“So, you should keep doing it,” Steve nodded. “It’s like Bucky always used to say, ‘stop assuming you have to give up something you love and really want to do just because you think there are things you should be doing’.”

“You do realize he’d have a cow if he were here to listen to you quoting him, right?” Juliet chuckled. 

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Steve hummed, smiling at her as he spoke. “But never mind that, how was the dancing last night?”

“Oh, same old, same old,” Juliet sighed. “Rebecca tried to run off with some guy that was married and Bucky exposed him. Y’know, she has a knack for picking the worst guys,” she giggled. “But I don’t think you would have liked it. They played Sinatra most of the night.”

“So, I’ll bet you and Bucky had a grand old time,” he smirked.

“Yeah,” Juliet smiled. 

It had been well established within the three of them, that Bucky and Juliet constantly claimed they had the better taste in music. They adored Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich while Steve was into Glenn Miller and cheesy mixes such as  _ Moonlight Serenade. _ Something that Bucky found amusing and Juliet just found frustrating. She hated the over-the-top somber love songs that were more annoying than sweet.

“Did they even play anything I’d be into?” Steve implored with a raised brow.

Juliet paused and stopped walking as she thought. “No,” she shook her head with a soft smile. “But maybe, that’s a good thing.”

“Oo, Jules!” Steve exclaimed. 

“I’m just saying,” Juliet giggled. “You weren’t there to enjoy it and no offense but you know how much I hate your taste in music,” she sighed.

“Wow, okay, offense taken,” Steve muttered, grinning over at her.

“Now that, is not my fault,” Juliet sighed. She skipped up ahead of him and rounded the corner to jump up to the steps of Bucky’s house.

“I thought we weren’t going anywhere,” Steve frowned.

“Yeah, I lied,” Juliet shrugged, fishing Bucky’s key out of her pocket. “Bex is going to stay with some friends for a while and I need to feed Wilson.”

“Why is she leaving him in the house alone?” Steve wondered as he headed into the house after Juliet.

“Because I’m not bringing him into the house with my mother and you’re not a dog person. Or did you forget that tremendously annoying fact?” Juliet prompted with a raised brow as she headed into the kitchen to pull the dog food out of the cabinet.

“It’s not that I hate dogs, I just prefer cats,” Steve shrugged. “Dogs aren’t terrible or anything.”

“Yeah, cats hate me,” Juliet sighed. “Every time I’m around one they scratch me within three seconds of being around me.”

“They’re adorable,” Steve moaned. “They’re low maintenance and when they’ll fall asleep on you and cuddle next to you in bed,” he smiled.

“Dogs do that too, you know,” Juliet smirked. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. “Wilson!” She barked. 

The large Golden Retriever leapt into the room, barking happily as he wagged his tail proudly towards Juliet.

She giggled and poured his food into the bowl. He devoured it and Juliet laughed, kneeling down by his side and scratching his head as she turned back to Steve.

“See?” She smiled. “How can you hate this face?”

“For the hundredth time, I don’t hate-.”

“Okay, boy. We gotta get going now. I’ll be back tomorrow,” she smiled. “Bye, Wilson!” She called, waving to the dog.

Steve sighed in defeat. “Never mind,” he mumbled. He headed over to the door and held it open for him.

Juliet smiled her thanks and turned to lock the door. “Now, do you know when you ship out?”

“Tomorrow,” Steve nodded. “I wanted to get out there as soon as possible.”

“Of course you did,” Juliet chortled, shaking her head at her friend and realizing how silly her question was. “That just means we get two last nights in a row,” she nodded. “And this time we won’t have Bucky insisting that we take the night celebrating my story,” she sighed, realizing that while she liked the fact that she could spend her last night with her friend properly, she hated that he wasn’t there with her.

Steve noticed the way her face fell with her words. “Jules? You alright?”

Juliet took a deep breath and feigned a smile. “Fine,” she assured him with a nod. “Let’s just go out and have a great last night together. After all, it’ll be only me and Mama after this and I’m gonna need two of the greatest nights of my life to look back on while you two are gone.”

“Well, you know,” Steve hummed, his face beginning to brighten.

“Uh-oh,” Juliet sighed. “What are you thinking about?”

“Tommy Dorsey’s swing band is set to perform tonight and I heard tickets are still on sale,” Steve told her.

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she groaned. “We’ll go see your little swing band but only because it’s your last night. If you come back from the war and start insisting we make a habit of this I’m gonna lose it,” she warned.

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “No promises.”

They headed to her apartment where he mother and a man Steve assumed was Charlie were making out on the couch.

“Oh, lovely,” Juliet sighed. She grabbed the wallet from the man’s pants where they had been discarded on the floor right beside her mother’s shirt. 

Juliet smirked when she saw four twenties inside. She placed the money in her bag and put the wallet back where she found it before running out after Steve. 

“Did we just steal from that guy?!” Steve exclaimed.

“Don’t worry yourself over it!” Juliet cried. “If he’s making out with my mother that money was going to alcohol anyway,” she shrugged, running ahead of Steve on the street and pulling out the money with a smirk. “At least now we can use it for something worthwhile.”

“Yeah, but-.”

“Oh, stop stressing, Steve,” Juliet sighed. “Bucky and I used to get some extra money from my Mom’s boyfriend’s all the time,” she shrugged. “They usually get far too drunk to notice they weren’t they once that spent it.”

“Bucky used to rob?” Steve frowned.

“It’s not like we were pulling some massive bank heist,” Juliet scoffed. “It was robbing less that $100 from men who are quite frankly the scum of the Earth.”

“I never knew you two did that,” Steve mumbled.

“How do you think we afforded going to the Glenn Miller concert on your birthday?” She wondered. “None of us are making enough money to survive on our own and you know that. You’re only able to stay in your own place now because of that money your Dad left you.”

“I won’t need the place much longer,” Steve shrugged.

“Yes, yes, Mister Army Man is going to fight off in the war,” Juliet sighed. “Let’s not think about that right now and just focus on the concert.”

“No objections here,” Steve smiled. 

They headed to the concert and while Juliet still couldn’t find she liked the music as much as Steve, she was happy to be able to spend time with her friend before he went off to fight in a war she had no idea if he’d return from. It hadn’t been the same the night before with Bucky. While she enjoyed dancing with him, it didn’t really feel like the night was about their last bits of time together. 

She figured him donning his uniform the entire time only served as a cold reminder to Juliet that he was going to be gone soon and every second felt like it was being wasted.

However, spending Steve’s last night with him just like two friends hanging out together. No rush, no deadline, just a fun night. 

They went out for ice cream after and Steve suffered a more than awkward moment with the blonde behind the counter who Bucky had tried to set him up with.

Juliet wasted no time laughing at both of their bright red faces.

After that, when they walked back to her place and found her Mom and Charlie passed out on the couch, Steve insisted she spend the night at his place and though she wanted to refuse, she couldn’t.

She grabbed a spare change of clothes and headed to his place.

When morning came, she accompanied him to the train station and headed home all alone.


	4. Letters

_ Bucky,  _

_ You won’t believe this, but Steve enlisted and actually got in! While we were out dancing, he met some Army doctor I guess and was given a chance to get into the Army. I can only picture your reaction right now, but I genuinely think he might be alright.  He did not get taken when enlisting after all so that is a benefit. _

_ There’s not much to tell of life back here. I just finished cooking breakfast for Mom and despite her grumbling she ate so I suppose things are looking up. There haven’t been many new stories at the paper recently. They mostly just have me writing calls for enlistment right now, which is fine. Every little effort helps right? _

_ But mostly, I’ve spent my days praying that Rebecca and I do not get those letters in the mail that mean you or Steve have been killed in combat. Ever since seeing the words ‘sincerest condolences’ with my father’s name in the sentence I’ve been terrified of seeing that happen again to my two best friends. _

_ I hope you’re not being reckless out there. I hope you’re keeping your promise of trying to survive. It may be easy to forget and I can’t blame you for that, but I do hope you’re not taking risks that could get you killed just because you know there is no way out. _

_ Even if you do die in combat, I at least want to have the knowledge that you gave everything you had to try and stay alive rather than just giving in. _

_ Please stay alive, _

_ Juliet _

 

_ Jules, _

_ I just got out here and met this woman called Peggy Carter. She reminded me a lot of you, though she was British, which one guy-Hodge I think he was called- would not let her forget. She punched him in the face for it too. That along with a couple other rude things Bucky has punched guys for saying to you. I really think you'd like her. _

_ The doctor I met is out here. I think he works for the colonel because I haven’t seen them apart yet.  _

_ The colonel mentioned there was some experiment going on in the squadron that the doctor was likely doing. He said it was going to make the ultimate super soldier, whatever that means. Nevertheless, I think it might be why the doctor pulled me out here, though I can’t be sure. _

_ How are you doing? Have you told Buck that I’m out here yet? I’ll bet he wasn’t too happy about that. I wonder if I’ll see him while I’m out here. _

_ You were right about the drills. I find I’m lagging behind far more than most of the other soldiers, but I don’t mind. They like to pick on me for my size, but they’re just like the bullies back in Brooklyn. It makes no difference what they think of me. _

_ I hope you’re not letting your mom get to you. She’s likely gotten a bit overwhelming now that Bucky and I aren’t there and I’m sorry about that.  _

_ I also hope you’re getting more stories at the paper. You deserve them.  _

_ Steve _

 

_ Steve,  _

_ What was the name of the scientist? I think I heard my editor talking about some experiment being done in the Army, though he wasn’t sure if he would take the story yet seeing as a lot of other papers plan on reporting on it and by the time we get it printed it would be “yesterday’s news”. _

_ They allowed a girl at the head of the Army? That’s amazing! There’s a part of me that wishes I could be recruited just knowing that. Still, I’m sticking with the paper. There aren’t many stories coming through now, but I guess that should be a good thing? I don’t know. I don’t want to hear about your squadron or Bucky’s being destroyed and I’d hate being forced to report on that.  _

_ My Mom is as good as can be expected. Charlie’s gone, but that’s no surprise. Most of the men she picks up lasts about two weeks at most. Before you go assuming, it’s not our fault. He didn’t even notice missing money, as I expected. _

_ I’m making her dinner in between writing this and I think because of my constant presence she’s been eating a bit more which is always good news. _

_ I’m not surprised the Army has bullies too. It’s filled to the brim with young idiots who think they’re going to be the best soldier out there. _

_ No offense. _

_ Juliet. _

 

_ Juliet, _

_ It’s rough out here. We’ve been dealing with this group called “Hydra”. They’re this rogue Nazi science division and they’ve been testing on people. It’s disgusting and I’m told it’s better to get rid of the rogue Nazi groups easily, that way Hitler and his men won’t come charging in and overwhelm us. _

_ Did you say Steve joined the Army? How the hell did a doctor deem him fit to fight? More importantly, how the hell is he going to keep up with all the shit thrown at him? _

_ Steve’s a great guy, but as soon as they throw him on the battlefield it’s going to be worse than rough. It’s nothing like the guys he faced in Brooklyn and he ought to know that. _

_ Still, I’m glad you’re still home and safe. I’d be twice as scared seeing you out here dealing with the shit I’ve been facing. It’s not easy, but then again you probably figured that didn’t you? _

_ I haven’t got much time to write letters but I’ll likely have more once Hydra is gone. We’ve got work around the clock keeping an eye out for these guys.  _

_ A couple of days ago me and a couple of guys were out on the field, just the four of us, and this huge tank came out from nowhere. If backup hadn’t come so fast we’d be history. _

_ But then again, I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear. _

_ Just know I’m okay and trying as best as I can to stay alive for you. Have I ever broken a promise to you? _

_ Don’t worry so much, you'll get frownlines _

_ Bucky. _

 

_ Bucky, _

_ I always worry about you, you big jerk. Stop telling me I'm gonna get frown lines. YouI hold that over my head ever since I said that was one of the ways you know you're getting old and I hate you for it, but I can’t help but worry when my two best friends are some idiots that get into trouble every goddamn day. _

_ And you’re the one usually left cleaning up the fights Steve gets into, so yeah, I’m worried. _

_ I haven’t heard a thing about Hydra but I’ll publish a story about it in the paper. I didn’t know there were rogue Nazi divisions, but I think more people should seeing as they’re cause for worry as well. _

_ You’re right. You haven’t broken a promise to me, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying. Especially, when I didn’t receive a letter back from you for weeks.  _

_ Of course, I was concerned. _

_ You know me, I was starting to picture a letter in the mail with that dumb ‘sincerest condolences’ tagline. In my defense, Rebecca was just as worried as I was. She kept talking about how you just marched straight into the gates of Hell when you got onto that train and it certainly didn’t help calm my nerves. _

_ Turns out, your sister is shit at being the rational one when there’s reason for distress. I’ve started to miss how you were always the steady head around while I was freaking out. _

_ It’s weird not hearing your voice everyday or listening to your stupid jokes and teasing all the time. I miss going to the ice cream shop down the street from your house and scrounging up money for weeks just to get to a Frank Sinatra concert when he came to New York. _

_ I miss you. _

_ Don’t die in this damn war and leave me alone you big idiot. I don’t know if I can handle the thought. _

_ Juliet. _

 

**NAZI ROGUE DIVISION REVEALED! NAZI’S EXPERIMENTING ON HUMANS?**

THIS BREAKING STORY IS WRITTEN BY NONE OTHER THAN THE TIMES’S OWN: JULIET MARKUS

Juliet stared down at the paper with large eyes. There, stamped across the front page was her story on Hydra. She took a deep breath and glanced down at the set of papers on the desk in her room. She had to get more information on Hydra. She had to expose them and maybe, just maybe, she could become a household name with this story.

 

_ Jules, _

_ I got chosen for that super soldier experiment the doctor was doing! The doctor was a man called Dr Abraham Erskine and he told me just today that I was picked. I don’t really know why me but I certainly plan on asking. _

_ It’s making me nervous just to think about. I know I won’t be able to get a wink of sleep tonight, but I guess they’ll be expecting that. _

_ I know what you’re going to say. Yeah, it’s dangerous and there are risks but there were risks to joining the Army and I managed to do that without a scratch. _

_ Hell, I could have been arrested five different times and yet here I am. _

_ Don’t tell Bucky about this. I can’t imagine what he’d think. I don’t know much about what it’s going to do, but I know that I really want to help out this doctor. _

_ He let me into the Army so I feel I owe him something, you know? I should help him test out his experiment and see if it works. Besides, he wouldn’t try to pull the Army in on something that was just going to kill a soldier, would he? _

_ I don’t think the risk is too great, but who knows? _

_ Maybe, you’ll be the one publishing the story on the front page about how the experiment was a success. _

_ Until then,  _

_ Steve. _


	5. The Experiment

A few weeks later, Juliet’s phone rang loudly in the house as she read through Steve’s letter.

“Hello?” She prompted, not really paying attention to the voice on the other end of the line.

“Is this Miss Juliet Markus?” A German accent asked and Juliet paled.

“Uh, who’s asking?” She implored, her attention pulled from the letter as she listened closely to the man.

“I am Dr Abraham Erskine, a friend of Steve Rogers?” He prompted and Juliet’s eyes widened.

“Oh, sorry,” she sighed. “I guess I just didn’t expect you to be-.”

“German?” Abraham guessed. “Yes, I know,” he chuckled softly. “I get that quite often, though I doubt that surprises you.”

“Hardly,” Juliet smiled. “Now, what can I do for you Mister Erskine? Steve says here you selected him for this experiment to become some super soldier?” She frowned, glancing back down at the first few lines of the letter.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking that is what I am trying to do,” Abraham nodded. “Though I have not called to talk to you about Steve.”

“Oh? What then?” Juliet wondered.

“Well, I have been told that you are a writer?” He prompted.

“Sort of,” she shrugged. “I’m not exactly writing for the front page right now but I’m trying to get there,” she nodded. “Why?”

“Well, I believe I may be able to help you. Steve has talked a great deal about his friend back home and if you are as good as he says, I would like you to report on the experiment I am conducting tomorrow,” Abraham told her.

“Wha- The one on Steve?” Juliet breathed.

“That is the one,” Abraham confirmed.

“Isn’t that in England?” Juliet frowned. “I mean that was where he was going when I last saw him.”

“Yes, he came to England,” Abraham confirmed. “But the experiment will take place right where you are. Brooklyn.”

“Why?” Juliet wondered. “I mean, if you don’t mind my asking. I’m sure most of your equipment is in England, so why move the experiment here?”

“While it is true that the equipment I need is here, the resources and people I need are back in New York, and I figure why not do it in Steve’s home?” Abraham proposed. “After all it might help him to become a bit more comfortable before undergoing the change.”

“Right,” Juliet nodded. “Okay, that makes sense,” she said. “But where do I go if you want me to be press on this?” She wondered.

“Do you know the shop Brooklyn Antiques?”

“Are you doing this in an antique shop?” Juliet scoffed.

“Sort of,” Abraham shrugged. “You shall see more when you arrive, but remember this. When you get there you will be greeted by an old woman. She will say that this is wonderful weather we are having and it is your job to say, ‘yes, but I always carry an umbrella.”

“Yes, but I always carry an umbrella,” Juliet mumbled, nodding as she stretched painfully to reached a small notepad on the table. She grabbed it and picked up a small pencil and scribbled the words onto the paper, pressing the pad against the small wall the phone sat on while she wrote.

“Tell her you are press and she will give you a press pass. Then you will go to the back of the store through a purple curtain. There you will wait until the bookshelf moves and that will be the path to the experimentation room,” Abraham listed. “Do you think you can remember all of this?”

Juliet started down at her scribbled mess on her notepad and sighed. “Yeah, I think I’ve got it.”

“Good. I hope to see you tomorrow Miss Markus,” Abraham hummed.

“Yeah, me too,” Juliet mumbled.

“Good bye.”

“Bye.”

She hung up the phone and took a deep breath before a large grin split across her cheeks and she jumped up elatedly. She would be seeing Steve again! Granted, she wanted to see both her friends not just one around the time of a potentially deadly experiment, but in the middle of a war she would take what she could get and right now she was very happy with the card she had been dealt.

~~~

The next morning, Juliet sat in the back of a taxi, a pencil behind her ear and a much bigger notepad to write down what she saw along with the paper with her instructions torn off and placed atop it.

She was the perfect image of a reporter.

“Right here’s good,” Juliet announced, spotting the sign for Brooklyn Antiques on her right.

“Are you sure?” the driver frowned. “This looks like the middle of nowhere and you seem like you’re looking for a scoop, dollface.”

“I said it’s good,” Juliet moaned, rolling her eyes. “And don’t call me dollface, asshole,” she snapped, tossing his money at him.

“Jesus, you need someone to help you relax,” he smirked. “If you want you and I could leave this crusty old antique-.”

“Keep talking and you’re gonna get a hell of a lot worse than a middle finger,” juliet said, flipping him off the entire time she walked inside the antique shop.

She huffed in annoyance as she close the door behind her and watched the taxi driver flip her off and speed away.

“Men,” she muttered with a shake of her head.

She turned back to the front of the store and spotted a little old woman in a pink cardigan with bright eyes and a smiling face march out.

“Wonderful weather this morning, isn’t it?” the woman prompted.

“Oh,” Juliet said with wide eyes. “I, uh-,” she scrambled for her paper and nodded victoriously when she found it. “Yes, but I always carry an umbrella,” she replied with a smile.

The woman smirked and nodded and headed to her counter to press a button that emitted a faint buzzing sound.

“Erm, I’m press?” Juliet said, holding up her notepad to the woman.

“Yes, of course,” the woman nodded. She grabbed a small badge that read ‘press’ in large letters and passed it to Juliet.

Juliet smiled her thanks and headed to the back of the store passed a velvet purple curtain. She spun around impatiently in a small room until a bookcase at the very end chugged open as though it were doors.

She grinned and walked through, flashing courteous smiles at the MP’s she passed as she did so. She marched down to the end of the hall where there were two double doors and two MP’s opened them for her as she approached.

Juliet walked to the edge of a railing and her eyes grew wide at all the technology visible and she couldn’t help but let out an excited giggle. Bucky had been right. They were taking Steve to the future.

She headed down the steps and a man she presumed to be Abraham Erskine walked up to her.

“You must be Juliet Markus,” the man smiled. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said, holding out his hand to shake hers.

“And you,” Juliet nodded. “I’m assuming you’re Doctor Erskine?” She prompted.

“Yes, that is me,” Abraham smiled. “Steve should be here any minute if you would like to see him. I know it has been a fair amount of time since you two have talked last.”’

“Oh, about a month,” Juliet shrugged. “We’ve been keeping up in letters but there isn’t always much time for them to write me,” she sighed.

“Them?” Abraham prompted with a small frown.

“Yeah, I have another friend in the war,” Juliet nodded. “His name is Bucky, but never mind that,” she shook her head. “You said on the phone you needed certain resources here that weren’t in England. What exactly would those resources be?” She wondered, pulling out her pencil and preparing to write.

“Ah,” Abraham nodded. “We needed access to the city’s powergrid,” he said. “Brooklyn  has one of the greatest out there and unlike England it is not exposed to the chaos of war.”

“But you’re working with the Army, right?” Juliet frowned, scribbling down everything he said. “Couldn’t they just give you some generators and be done with it?”

“Oh, nothing is that easy with something this big?” Abraham smiled and shook his head. 

“Did they not want to give yolu generators?” Juliet implored, raising a brow at the man.

“No, nothing like that,” Abraham assured her. “Far from it.  In fact, they just did not have the means to provide me with the amount of generator’s I’d need.”

“So, this thing takes a lot of power?” Juliet assumed, sparing a gaze at the strange contraption she guessed Steve would have to lay on. 

“Yes, a great amount,” Abraham confirmed with a nod. 

“What exactly will it be doing?” She wondered. “Like what is the process for the experiment and what is supposed to be the result?”

“Well, first we will ask Steve to take off his shirt and lay down here,” Abraham said, gesturing to the area Juliet had just been looking at. “There we will hook him up to the machine and begin with a series of micro-injections into the major muscle groups. The actual serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change, so to stimulate growth Steve will be saturated with vita-rays, but before that we will put penicillin in him to clear out his system,” he explained.

“Okay,” Juliet nodded. “And this-what? This will make him into some super soldier?”

“Yes,” Abraham nodded. “It will increase everything about him, not just all his physical attributes but his personality as well.”

“Huh,” Juliet frowned. “Good thing he’s a good guy,” she smiled. “If you gave this serum to some bully-.”

“Oh, I have,” Abraham nodded. “That is the only reason I know how the serum may affect his personality. But that is a story for another time.”

“Certainly a story I’d like to hear,” Juliet chuckled and Abraham smiled as well, though it was pained.

“If you’ll follow me Miss Markus, I can introduce you to the man measuring our vita-rays for Steve’s experiment,” Abraham said. “Mister-.”

“Mister Stark!” Juliet exclaimed with large eyes at the sight of the mustached man once more.

“Yeah, hi,” Howard frowned. “Do I know you?”

“No, but I was at your expo,” Juliet smiled. “The one with the flying car? Good job on that by the way,” she remarked sarcastically with a small snicker.

“Hey, I said that thing wouldn’t be done for a few more years!” Howard snapped.

“I know, I know,” Juliet giggled. “I’m just messing with you. It actually was pretty impressive that you at least managed to get it a couple feet off the ground,” she shrugged.

“Oh, I’ve done nothing a construction crane couldn’t do,” Howard sighed, waving a hand to dismiss the matter. 

“True, but you did it within the car,” Juliet nodded. “Not too shabby,” she smirked and Howard smiled brightly at her.

“Right,” Abraham nodded. “Well, Steve should be arriving any moment now so if you wouldn’t mind heading up to the booth?” He prompted, gesturing up to a booth just above them with glass walling so they could stay below.

“Oh, no,” Juliet shook her head. “I’m staying down here,” she insisted.

“But, I-,” Abraham began, looking to Howard for help. Howard just shrugged aimlessly, unsure of what he could offer.

“I wanna see Steve and if I’m gonna give a proper report on this I wanna be down here where everything is happening rather than trapped up in some glass box with a bunch of frustrating men who I assure you will try to do my report for me,” Juliet nodded.

Abraham seemed flabbergasted but, nevertheless, conceded with a nod. “Alright, you will stay down here,” he said.

“Thank you,” Juliet smiled. 

Just then, the double doors swung open and everybody stopped in their tracks as Steve and a woman with brown hair in an Army uniform stepped out.

Steve looked around with wide eyes, but his eyes skipped a beat when he spotted Juliet Markus grinning up at him.

“Oh, my God,” he gasped.

“What is it?” Peggy Carter frowned from by his side. 

“It’s-It- Juliet!” He exclaimed and Juliet giggled.

She ran up to him and when he reached the bottom of the stairs, she hugged him tightly. “I’ve missed you so much,” she sighed, grinning down at him.

“I’ve missed you too,” Steve nodded. “I have so much more to tell you, I-,” he paused as Peggy walked up by his side and looked at Juliet with an almost jealous frown. “Right, this is Peggy Carter,” he introduced with a small smile. “She’s the girl I told you about.”

“Oh, yeah,” Juliet hummed. She held out her hand and shook Peggy’s happily. “Nice to meet you. I’m Juliet Markus.”

“Ah,” Peggy nodded, her face brightening with understanding. “The only other girl Steve’s had a long conversation with,” she remembered.

Juliet snorted and glanced down at Steve who turned bright red at the statement. “Strange way to be recognized, but I’ll take it,” she shrugged. “So, you’re working in the Army.”

“Yes, I enlisted just after my twentieth birthday,” Peggy nodded.

“That’s so cool,” Juliet smiled. “I always thought I’d join the Army if I had the chance but the only positions available would be nurses and being in charge of squadrons I suppose and while I’m a good nurse I’m terrible at ordering people around,” she chuckled.

“Oh, it feels good,” Peggy insisted. “You get to be rude to a bunch of men who are mostly arseholes and you don’t have to apologize for hitting them. In fact, the colonel things I should start hitting them more,” she hummed.

“Sounds great,” Juliet laughed. “I’d certainly love the chance to hit some asshole on the street that tries to hit on me and get commended for it.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Peggy agreed with a nod. “I think I broke one man’s nose a couple weeks back,” she said and Juliet laughed at the idea.

“Well, seems like you two are getting along,” Steve remarked and the women laughed and nodded. 

“Will you be staying for the experiment?” Peggy asked. 

“Yep,” Juliet nodded, holding up her press badge. “I’m writing about it for the Times.”

“Ah, impressive,” Peggy hummed.

“Wait, you got the story?” Steve prompted with a small smile.

“Yeah, and thanks to Bucky, two weeks ago I landed the front page,” Juliet grinned. 

“What, are you kidding?!” Steve exclaimed. “That’s amazing!”

“I know!” Juliet beamed, pulling Steve into another hug. “I haven’t gotten the chance to tell him yet since I haven’t gotten his next letter, but I’m so excited when I do.”

“That’s incredible,” Steve nodded. “You should be excited,” he agreed. “Do you think they’ll give you front page again for this story?” He asked, nodding to the scientists behind her.

“I hope so,” Juliet shrugged. “But we’ll know for sure when I send it in to my editor,” she smiled.

“That’s very lucky of you,” Peggy remarked. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Juliet squealed. “I’m so excited.”

“Well, I can’t make you wait any longer, can I?” Steve smirked. “Let’s get you the story,” he said and Juliet nodded as he walked over to Abraham.

“Good morning,” Abraham smiled, shaking Steve’s hand happily.

Steve caught sight of the device he was meant to enter and his eyes inflated. 

“Are you ready?” Abraham prompted, raising a brow at Steve.

Steve glanced back at Juliet anxiously and she gave him a reassuring nod. “It’s okay, Steve,” she promised.

Steve took a deep breath and turned to Abraham. He nodded and Abraham grinned. “Good. Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat,” he instructed.

Steve paused, holding his cap cautiously as Abraham walked away. 

Juliet chuckled and scribbled a few notes as Steve took off his hat and passed it to one of the nurses.

Steve fumbled with his tie for a few minutes before wincing and turning to Juliet. “Jules?” He prompted.

Juliet looked up with a raised brow and giggled when she spotted his struggles with the tie. Along with their live-in nurse, Juliet was also the one responsible for Steve and Bucky’s wardrobe. She was certain the only way they had been getting by this past month was the fact that the Army took care of everything she used to.

She placed her notepad down on one of the small metal tables and began undoing Steve’s tie.

“So, how have you been this past month?” Steve asked.

“Oh, I should be the one asking you that,” Juliet scoffed. “My life got dead ordinary when you and Bucky left.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Steve smiled. “Front page?” He reminded her with a raised brow.

“Yeah, well, that was a one time thing,” Juliet sighed. “Before that I was writing enlistment ads and fetching coffee for people with far more space in the paper than I thought I’d ever get.”

“Until you hit the front page,” Steve smirked.

“Until I hit the front page,” Juliet agreed. She took off his tie and passed it to the nurse. “But I really have Bucky to thank for that,” she sighed. “Because of his letter I hit the front page,” she shrugged.

“What was his letter about?” He asked.

“Well, it-,” Juliet began, but was interrupted by Abraham walking in before them.

“Steve, sorry to interrupt but we need you to lay down on the device,” Abraham instructed.

“Oh,” Steve nodded.

“I can tell you later,” Juliet shook her head as Steve climbed onto the device. “You’ve got this whole big experiment to worry about.”

“No, I want to know,” Steve insisted with a small frown. “We’ve still got a bit before it actually starts,” he shrugged before laying down.

Juliet smiled and shook her head. That was one of the many things she loved about being friends with Steve. No matter where you went you would find people more invested in themselves and events surrounding them rather than what you may be going through, but Steve was not one of those people. His happiness laid solely in the interests and achievements of those closest to him. Even if he was busy or in the middle of something else he would always take time out of his day to sit and listen to whatever you had to say, no matter if it was as simple getting hit with some rain in the morning, he would want to know.

“Well he told me about this Nazi rogue organization that he was sent to stop and I thought it was so interesting that there were actually groups rogue from the Nazi’s since the Nazi’s are already terrifying themselves. That being said, I wanted to publish a story about them since I figured more people should know that they exist and it made first page,” Juliet smiled.

“That’s great!” Steve exclaimed. “But about that rogue group,” he muttered. “They wouldn’t, by any chance, be Hydra would they?” He asked, remembering the words of Dr Erskine the night before.

“That’s exactly who it was,” Juliet frowned. “How did you know that?”

“Doctor Erskine was their prisoner,” Steve said, nodding to Abraham who was currently running over some information with Howard once more. “He was forced to give this serum to their leader. Johann Schmidt, I think he was called.”

“Interesting,” Juliet hummed, making sure to scribble all this information down on a seperate sheet in her notepad. “He did say he had tried the serum before and they turned from bad to worse, but brushed me off when I tried to ask more about it.”

“Yeah, I got the feeling he only told me so I would understand why he chose me for this experiment,” Steve nodded, watching Abraham carefully.

“And do you?” Juliet asked. “Understand, I mean,” she clarified.

“Sort of,” Steve shrugged. “I just hope I don’t let him down,” he sighed. 

“That’s fair enough,” Juliet nodded. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you will,” she assured him. “I mean look how far you’ve gone in the hopes of not letting your father down,” she said, gesturing to the machine with a chuckle.

“Go big or go home, right?” Steve smirked. 

“I’m pretty sure you’ve centered your whole life around that philosophy, but yeah,” Juliet smiled. “Go big or go home.”

Just then, Abraham walked forward and Juliet took a few steps back from the machine so he could talk to his subject.

“Comfortable?” Abraham prompted with a raised brow.

Steve scoffed and glanced down at the machine. His legs were far too short to even harbor a hope of filling it out completely. “It’s a little big,” Steve sighed and Abraham just chuckled softly. If they accomplished what they set out to do, that would not be a problem for long. “You save me any of that Schnopps?” He asked.

Abraham winced and looked down in silent regret. “Not as much as I should have,” he sighed. “Sorry. Next time,” he promised and Steve and Juliet shared a smile. 

“Mister Stark?” Abraham called. “How are your levels?” He asked.

“Levels at one hundred percent,” Howard announced, marching over to the machine beside them. 

“Good,” Abraham said, turning to set up the final preparations before the experiment began.

“We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready,” Howard smiled, watching as the doctors and nurses strapped Steve into the machine. “As we’ll ever be,” he muttered and Juliet snorted.

“That sounds confident,” she remarked sarcastically.

“About as confident as I can be,” Howard shrugged and Juliet nodded. That seemed fair enough considering the fact they were testing a serum that had only ever been used on one other human and wound up turning him into a very evil man.

“Agent Carter, don’t you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?” Abraham prompted Peggy.

“But I,” Peggy frowned, glancing back at Juliet who was remaining on the floor. 

“If she stays by my side we can keep away so we don’t interfere?” Juliet suggested with a shrug.

Abraham looked thoroughly frustrated by the idea, wanting to keep as few people on the floor as possible, but he conceded with a resounding sigh. “Alright, so long as you don’t interfere with the experiment,” he said and Juliet nodded.

Peggy smiled and walked over to her side as she stepped out of the area where all the doctors and scientists were bustling about and watched Steve from the sidelines.

“Thank you for that,” Peggy murmured.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Juliet shrugged. “I’ve seen the way you look at him,” she mumbled with a small smile as she watched Steve be prepped.

“What?” Peggy frowned.

“You don’t have to play ignorant with me,” Juliet smiled. “I saw the way you watched him and I when we hug and how you were so relieved when you figured out who I was,” she nodded. “You like him.”

“I don’t-.”

“Steve may not see it and Lord knows every man in here would be too dumb to see it, but I do. Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you some best friend lecture about what Steve’s been through and how you need to take care of him and ultimately freak you out,” Juliet assured her. “I’m just going to tell you that if you really want to see where this crush goes you’re gonna have your work cut out for you,” she sighed. “Steve doesn’t really believe anyone could be interested in him in that way and he’ll damn near avoid every sign you throw at him to continue to think that. So, if you want to be with him, you’re going to have to be blatantly obvious,” she advised.

Peggy smiled and looked down at the ground. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

“No problem,” Juliet shrugged. “It’s sort of our job to look out for each other as girls,” she smiled and Peggy grinned.

“Yeah,” Peggy nodded. She glanced back at Steve who flashed a quick smile at them and took a deep breath. “Did you and him ever-?” She began, gesturing between Juliet and Steve.

“Oh, God, no!” Juliet laughed. “He’s nice and all, but no, he’s like a brother to me,” she shrugged. “Surprisingly blondes are not my type,” she smirked, gesturing to her blonde hair. “I think I’m more interested in brunettes,” she decided with a soft sigh.

Peggy nodded in understanding and glanced back at Steve.  

As she did so, Abraham picked up a microphone and glanced up at the glass box containing various senators and Army officials all bent on seeing the next great super soldier.

“Can you hear me?” Abraham asked as he flicked on the speaker of the mic. “Is this on?”

“It’s starting,” Juliet breathed and she and Peggy both moved to the back wall to take their seats beside each other and watch. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace,” Abraham announced as they got Steve wired into the machine. 

As she watched, Juliet was scribbling frantically, trying to capture every detail she saw with her pencil and pad of paper.

“We begin with a series of micro-injections into the subject’s major muscle groups,” Abraham said as two nurses brought over a small case with several bright blue beakers inside. “The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change,” he told everyone.

Peggy shared an anxious glance with Juliet as the blonde fought to write down everything she watched. 

The nurses place the serum in the machine, not opening it yet, but keeping it by Steve’s side and seemingly only making him more nervous.

“And then to stimulate growth the subject will be saturated with vita-waves,” Abraham announced.

“What are vita-waves?” Peggy murmured.

“Hell, if I know,” Juliet scoffed. “I failed science twice in grade school,” she mumbled and Peggy laughed.

Abraham walked over to Steve’s side as one of the nurses wiped his arm and injected him with something. Steve winced and breathed slowly and Juliet narrowed her eyes at the scene.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she heard Steve mutter.

“That was penicillin,” Abraham sighed and Juliet snorted. Oh, how she loved Steve.

Abraham just rolled his eyes and turned back to address the audience. “Serum infusion beginning in five,” he said.

Peggy reached out and grabbed Juliet’s hand, squeezing tightly. 

“Four, three, two,” he said, gently placing a calming hand on Steve’s shoulder. “One!”

As he said this, all the doctors and scientists raced to work around them. One of the scientists pushed forward a set of levers and the blue serum in the beakers was drained of its contents.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut and winced only to have the burst open once the serum was completely drained within him.

“Now, Mister Stark,” Abraham instructed, looking up towards Howard.

Howard nodded and pushed forward a small red lever before him. The machine then began to tilt forward and its sides enclosed around Steve, sealing him off from view. 

Peggy gulped harshly and Juliet sent her a soft smile, patting the woman’s hand affirmingly. 

They attached two tubes to either side of the machine, locking them into place while Abraham mached forward and tapped on the small bit of glass at the front of the machine where Steve wasn’t even visible.

“Steven?” Abraham prompted, not allowing the tone of concern to creep into his voice. “Can you hear me?”

There was a pause and then, “it’s probably too late to go to the bathroom right?”

Juliet snorted and poorly concealed her laughter at his words.

Abraham smiled and turned back to all the employees around him. “We will proceed,” he announced.

After he said this, one of the nurses walked over and handed a set of goggles to Juliet and Peggy.

“What are these for?” Juliet frowned. 

“The rays,” the nurse answered. “It is safe behind the glass but if you want to look at the machine I’d suggest you put them on,” she advised.

Juliet and Peggy shared a look before both shrugged and doing as she said.

Howard walked across the contraption controlling Steve’s machine and turned a large dial. He then put on a set of goggles just like Peggy and Juliet’s and began turning a small wheel labeled ‘Stark Industries’.

In the machine bright lights started shining through and it seemed as though a piece of the sun itself was burning within the machine.

“That’s ten percent!” Howard called. “Twenty percent. Thiry!” He cried and Abraham covered his eyes from the brightness of the rays.

It was so blinding that Juliet found she even needed to shield her goggles as she watched, though it did give her plenty of light to write down the events in her notepad.

“That’s forty percent,” Howard announced.

“Vital signs are normal,” one of the doctors informed them.

“It’s at fifty percent!” Howard called. “Sixty! Seventy!”

As he said this, Steve began to start screaming with pain at the sheer burning of the waves crashing through his skin. It was killing him.

Peggy’s jaw dropped and Juliet jumped up from her seat as Abraham rushed up to the machine.

“Steve!” Abraham cried desperately as Steve continued to scream. “Steven!”

Peggy jumped up and rushed forward. “Shut it down!” She yelled, her face wrought with fear.

“Let him out of there!” Juliet echoed, rushing up to the machine as well, her notepad entirely forgotten on the chair.

“Steven!” Abraham hollered, pounding on the glass furiously. He didn’t want to give up that easily, but all anyone could hear were the sounds of Steve screaming in pain.

“Shut it down!” Peggy ordered.

“Let him out now!” Juliet barked.

Abraham glanced furiously between the women and Steve before nodding and hopping away from the machine. “Kill the reactors, Mister Stark!” He called, pointing towards Howard. “Shut it all off and kill the reactors!” He instructed.

Just as everyone began to do just that, a voice cried out from within the machine.

“No!” Steve cried. “Don’t!”

“Steve, you’ll die!” Juliet yelled, tears blurring her vision as she looked at the machine where her friend laid. 

“I can do this!” He promised.

Juliet sucked in a sharp breath and took a single step back as she processed his words. She wanted to tell them to shut it down anyway, all of Steve’s fights throughout his life flashing back to her and reminding her no matter how much he thought he was capable of, he often forgot he was still a small, skinny man.

However, she also remembered that throughout all those fights, Steve endured the ruthless beatings and survived even when most of the bones in his body had been broken. If there was anybody that could fight through this level of pain, it was Steve Rogers.

“Well?” Abraham prompted. Juliet smiled at the fact that he consolted her. She knew she was the only name on Steve’s lists for emergencies and family. Bucky himself was fighting in the war so if anybody was going to be contacted when Steve was in trouble or had been killed, it was her. 

“Keep it going,” Juliet nodded. “But go slower,” she instructed and Howard nodded as he returned to the wheel.

“Juliet!” Peggy exclaimed, astonished that one of Steve’s closest friends would allow him to do this.

“He can get through it, Peggy,” Juliet promised with a nod. “He can do it.”

Peggy didn’t seem as convinced but she still nodded and watched with uneasy eyes.

Howard began turning the wheel once more and the light inside the machine grew even brighter. “Eighty!” He called out and Steve’s screams of pain stopped.

Abraham flinched back against the brightness of the machine and Peggy grabbed Juliet’s hand once more.

“Ninety!” Howard announced. 

The lights in the room began growing brighter with the extent of the power being used on Steve’s machine.

“That’s one hundred percent!” Howard yelled and Juliet’s eyes grew wide.

The lights across the room began sparking and the machines let out drained puffs of smoke as the machine whirred furiously in action.

But just as soon as the chaos started it stopped, the lights in the room all flickering and dimming and the bright light within the machine falling dark.

Juliet couldn’t help but hold her breath and squeeze Peggy’s hand tightly as she kept her eyes fixed on the machine, praying she had made the right decision keeping Steve in the machine.

“Mister Stark!” Abraham cried, desperate for an update.

However, before Howard could say a word the machine hissed open and revealed the taller much larger figure of Steve Rogers.

Juliet’s eyes practically fell out of her head as she took in his new frame. He had muscles now covering his entire chest which were currently glistening with sweat. He was now much taller than her as opposed to before when he was barely her height.

He seemed so different and yet when Juliet watched Abraham and Howard help him out of the machine, something deep within her told her that he was the same Steve Rogers who tried to pick a fight with the guy who tried to steal her lunch when she was a kid.

“You did it,” Steve gasped as he stumbled out of the machine.

Juliet grinned and shook her head. Yep, same old Steve Rogers.

“Yep, we did it,” Abraham confirmed with a smile.

“You actually did it,” Howard breathed, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

Peggy rushed up to him and Juliet giggled as she watched the woman take in all of Steve’s new body. She looked overwhelmed to say the least and if Steve still hadn’t been reeling from the experiment, he would have noticed how Peggy seemed unable to keep her eyes off of Steve’s new abs.

“How do you feel?” Peggy muttered, fighting to look into his eyes and failing tremendously.

“Taller,” Steve gasped and Juliet laughed.

Peggy nodded as though that description was more than suitable. “You look taller,” she remarked. When she realized many of the female nurses were also staring, she snatched a shirt from one of them and tossed it at Steve who flashed an exhausted smile at her.

“You’re taller than me now,” Juliet noticed with a grin as she stepped forward by Peggy’s side.

Steve smiled as he pulled on his shirt. He attempted to step forward but only stumbled into Juliet’s arms. “Whoa, easy there,” Juliet hummed. 

“Thanks for letting me go through with this,” Steve mumbled. 

“Of course,” Juliet beamed at him. “I knew you could do it,” she assured him. “After all, you’ve survived all those countless fights in every Brooklyn alleyway. I figured you could endure a little vita-rays,” she said and Steve smirked.

As countless government and Army officials congratulated Abraham, Juliet moved Steve to the side with Peggy so they could have a little privacy.

“What are we gonna tell Bucky?” Steve wondered and Juliet’s eyes grew wide. 

“Oh,” Juliet winced. “I-I did not think of that,” she muttered. “Y’know what? If he asks what happened, just tell him you joined the Army,” she shrugged and Steve laughed.

“Good plan,” he remarked sarcastically. “I think-.”

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud explosion basted through the glass booth sending the window shattering down below to the floor.

Everyone took cover and Steve covered both Juliet and Peggy as a man with dark hair and glasses that had snuck in to watch the experiment snatched the last container of the super soldier serum.

As they all got up, they watched as he began running up the first staircase.

“Stop him!” Abraham cried.

His words forced the man to spin around and shoot Abraham three times in the chest making several people scream.

Steve and Juliet ran over to Abraham while Peggy pulled out her gun and began shooting at the man. She got him twice in the arm and shoulder, but as he started firing shots, she was forced to duck down and he got away.

Peggy ran out after him and Juliet checked Abraham’s vitals. The shots weren’t directly to the heart but there were enough to flood his lungs with blood and kill him.

She listened to his dying heartbeat and winced. When Steve raised a brow at her, she simply shook her head forlornly. 

“No,” Steve breathed, gathering the scientist in his arms sadly. 

“Remember,” Abraham croaked and began poking Steve’s chest, directly where his heart was.

Steve’s eyes widened as he glanced between his chest and Abraham and looked back at the man just in time to see the blood spill from his mouth and watch his eyelids flicker and fall shut.

Juliet checked his vitals once more and, finding no heartbeat, she hung her head and let out a shaky breath.

Steve, however, grew furious. He looked up with daggers in his eyes and his jaw clenched in anger.

He spared a glance over at Juliet and she already knew what he was thinking. She nodded firmly.

“Do what you have to,” she mumbled. 

Steve nodded and with that, he jumped up and ran outside to chase after the man that had killed Abraham.

She glanced back at the large crowd that had just witnessed all of this unravel and took a deep breath. “Help me gather his body,” she told them.

They all seemed to pause before simultaneously jumping into action as they realized caring for the dead man was a thing they needed to do. Juliet rolled her eyes at them all.

As she helped, Howard walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. “You should go after them.”

“And do what?” Juliet scoffed. “Peggy’s got the gun and Steve’s now got the body to really fight that guy. I’m only just barely good in hand-to-hand and that’s just what my father taught me when I was young,” she shrugged.

“Still,” Howard insisted. “Steve could use a friend right now.”

Juliet glanced down at the dead body of Abraham Erskine and took a deep breath. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “I suppose you’re right,” she nodded. “Take over for me, will you?”

“It’d be my please,” Howard smirked.

Juliet smiled and nodded before running out of the shop after Peggy and Steve.

She found Peggy in the middle of the street, lying down with her hair in a mess. 

Juliet helped her to her feet and frowned as Peggy furiously brushed her hair out of her face. “Where’s Steve?” Juliet asked.

“He shoved me out of the way of a bloody car then took off after the man!” Peggy roared. “Right when I had him!”

“Well, we need to go after him!” Juliet exclaimed. “Do you know which way he went?”

“Yeah,” Peggy huffed, blowing some stray strands out of her face. “That way,” she muttered, gesturing vaguely behind her.

“Well, come on,” Juliet grinned. She grabbed Peggy’s hand and together they ran down the street.

The women followed the desperate screams of fear and destruction to try and find Steve and it wound up working quite well. 

They found the taxi the man had tried to steal and a torn off door with bullet holes in it. 

“If I had to guess, I’d say he went to the pier,” Juliet chortled as she watched a little boy climb out of the water and reunite with his mother near the entrance.

“You think?” Pegguy smirked.

Juliet giggled and the pair ran into the pier to spot Steve in the distance hunched over a body. Both of them were soaking wet.

“Oh, my God,” Peggy breathed. 

“Steve!” Juliet cried, she bolted to his side.

“Hail Hydra,” the man Steve had captured groaned.

Juliet’s eyes widened and she spun around to face the man in the tie. His mouth began to foam and within seconds he appeared dead.

“I didn’t do anything to-,” Steve began.

“I know,” Juliet nodded. “I know you would never,” she assured him. She knelt down beside the strange man and smelled the foam coming from his lips. “Bitter almonds,” she breathed.

“What does that mean?” Steve frowned.

“I read these Agatha Christie books a while back,” Juliet mumbled. “They said that cyanide smells exactly like bitter almonds.”

“Which means?” Steve implored.

“He killed himself,” Juliet sighed. “Did you ask him anything?” She prompted. “Anything he would give his life not to answer?”

“I just asked him who he was,” Steve shrugged. “I asked what he wanted.”

“And did he said anything before hail Hydra?” Juliet asked.

Steve nodded and stared down at the face of another dead man just that day. “He said he was the first of many. Cut off one head, two more will grow in its place.”

“He’s talking about the Greek monster the Hydra,” Juliet nodded. “This rogue group or organization must have made their identifying phrase off it’s main trait. The very thing that makes it so hard to kill,” she murmured.

Steve nodded absentmindedly and stepped back, staring at his arms and new size with large eyes. 

As he took in his new form, Peggy raced up to meet them. “What’s happened?” She breathed.

“He killed himself. He was an agent of Hydra, undoubtedly trying to nab the serum for more experiments in his division,” Juliet explained.

“More?” Peggy frowned.

“Yeah,” Juliet nodded, glancing back at Steve momentarily with a small frown. “Dr Erskine already used the serum on their leader Johann Schmidt and it turned him into something hideous,” she sighed. 

Peggy’s eyes widened as she glanced down at the dead body and Steve and Juliet. “Right,” she nodded. “We’d better report this to the Colonel. Along with that sub,” she said, nodding to a thin black submarine still sticking out of the water. “It might have some materials Stark can use for us in it.”

“Right,” Steve nodded.

“I’m gonna have to go back home, aren’t I?” Juliet sighed. 

“Not just yet,” Peggy shook her head. “We might be able to use you if you know about Hydra.”

“I don’t really know much,” Juliet shrugged.

“That’s better than nothing and who knows?” Peggy smiled. “You may be able to fill in a gap for us.”

Juliet grinned up at her and nodded. She knew the woman was repaying her for helping her stay on the floor during Steve’s experiment and she was grateful. She didn’t want to go back home to her mother and she was more than happy to stay and help as much as possible in the war.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

“Don’t mention it,” Peggy smiled. “Now, we need to find that last bottle of the serum,” she said and Steve winced.

“About that,” Steve murmured.

“What happened?” Juliet moaned. 

“When I pulled him out of the submarine, the serum fell and,” he sighed and glanced down beside his feet where there was a blue liquid on the pavement and broken glass.

“Right then,” Peggy huffed. “This should be fun to tell the Colonel,” she said sarcastically.

~~~

Peggy and Juliet sat side by side in the lab as the nurse drew more of Steve’s blood. 

Peggy was going over all the files she could about Hydra while Juliet was wrapped up all her notes on Hydra. She knew if she got enough information she could post another story. Albeit, this time it would have to be anonymous, but she could still get the story on her resume if her editor backed her up on it. 

One day, all of this would be proof enough to a publisher that her stories need to be read by the world.

Steve sighed as the nurse pulled the needle out of him and he tugged his sleeve down. “Think you got enough?” He muttered.

“It’s alright, Steve,” Juliet assured him.

“Any hope of reproducing the program is locked in your genetic code,” Peggy explained. “But without Doctor Erskine it would take years.”

Steve walked over and Juliet placed a gentle hand on his arm to try and reassure him through his stresses. She could see from the look in his eyes he already despised his change. He had done it solely for Doctor Erskine and now he was dead as well as another man and she knew he thought the strength to be more of a curse than something to be praised.

She knew he was thinking that because she would be thinking the exact same thing at that moment.

“He deserved more than this,” Steve sighed.

“I know,” Juliet nodded. 

“But if it could work only once, he’d be proud it was you,” Peggy offered with a small smile. 

“She’s right,” Juliet nodded. “You’re a good man, Steve. You were good and you were special long before the experiment and now all of that has just been enhanced,” she shrugged.

“I just don’t know if it’s all worth it,” Steve sighed.

“At the end of the day, you’re the one who determines what you make out of this,” she said, gesturing to his new body. “You can either turn and allow you’re grief to take over and fester into something terrible, like Schmidt, or you can become the great man Abraham knew the experiment could help you become.”

Steve flashed a quick but sad smile at her and pulled her into a hug. If he was going to have anybody by his side while he was dealing with this change, he was grateful it was Juliet. She somehow always knew just what to say and when to say it. 

As he pulled her into a hug, he frowned as he spotted the Colonel walking inside once more with the Senator. 

“Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers!” the Senator barked.

“Great,” Colonel Phillips sighed. “Why don’t we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret instillation in your car?” He implored and the Senator fell silent.

Steve pulled out of his hug with Juliet and took a deep breath. “I think we need to head downstairs,” he mumbled.

Without elaborating, he left the room to go downstairs.

Juliet and Peggy shared a look of confusion and interest before heading outside to follow him. 

Steve walked up to Colonel Phillips where he was talking to Howard analyze and pull apart the submarine they had all brought in.

“We’re not even close to this technology,” Howard sighed.

“Then who is?” the Senator asked with a small frown.

“Hydra,” Juliet answered easily. 

“I’m sure you’ve been reading our briefings,” Colonel Phillips nodded to the Senator.

“I’m on a number of committees, Colonel,” the Senator snapped.

In other words, he hadn’t been reading a damn thing.

“Hydra is the Nazi deep science division,” Peggy explained.

“It’s lead by Johann Schmidt,” Juliet nodded. 

“But, he has much bigger ambitions,” Peggy hummed.

“Based on what I’ve been able to work out, and what Steve’s said Doctor Erskine told him, Schmidt claims he wants to capture the power of the gods. Where for some this is just a fantastical dream, to him this is reality,” Juliet explained. “He thinks he can harness godlike power and turn it into weapons to wipe out not Hitler’s enemies, but his own.”

“Sorry, who the hell are you?!” the Senator exclaimed.

“Juliet Markus,” Juliet smiled, holding out her hand and shaking the Senator’s firmly. “Reporter for the New York Times.”

“You let a reporter in on this information?!” the Senator snapped at the Colonel.

“It’s not like he had a choice,” Peggy scoffed.

“Yeah, between Rogers and Agent Carter I’d be lucky if I got this girl five feet away from this place,” Colonel Phillips sighed. “Besides, she knows too much already,” he shrugged.

“It was either let me work with me friend,” Juliet said, glancing momentarily at Steve and smiling. “Or find everything I know about Hydra splashed across the news front page,” she hummed. “And I know quite a lot,” she announced. “So, I know you all aren’t looking to have that kind of mass panic.”

“And it’s not like we can have her killed,” Colonel Phillips huffed.

“I’ve made an arrangement with my editor to expect a call from me every hour on the hour,” Juliet smiled. “If he doesn’t hear from me, he’s posting a story in the paper about how the Army had me killed because of Hydra.”

“She just thought of it all,” Colonel Phillips sighed.

“I may be just some little girl reporter, but I’m not an idiot,” Juliet smirked. “I know what we’re doing is top secret and I want to help in anyway I can. Whether you use me for information, to keep the public eye away, or to just assist you bright and shiny new super soldier I’m here and I’m ready to help stop Hydra.”

“Yes, but what exactly is Hydra?” the Senator hissed. “Besides some children in lab coats trying to use magic to win the war?”

“Hydra’s practically a cult,” Colonel Phillips corrected. “They worship Schmidt. They think he’s invincible.”

“So, what are you gonna do about it?” the Senator prompted.

Colonel Phillips smiled at the Senator and began walking away. “I spoke to the President this morning,” he announced. “As of today, the S.S.R. is being retasked.”

“Colonel?” Peggy implored with a small frown and a raised brow.

“We are taking the fight to Hydra,” he said. “Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too Mister Stark!” He called to Howard. “We are flying to London tonight.”

“What about me?” Juliet frowned. 

“I can’t afford to get rid of you Miss Markus and I can’t afford to keep you in England, so as far as I’m concerned you’re going to stay with Rogers until I can figure out what to do with you,” Colonel Phillips sighed.

“What, I’m not going to London?” Steve frowned. 

“Absolutely not,” Colonel Phillips scoffed. 

“Sir, if you’re going after Schmidt, I want in,” Steve insisted.

“You’re an experiment,” Colonel Phillips snapped. “You’re going to Alamogordo,” he said.

Steve glanced back at Peggy and Juliet and they just shrugged, unsure of what to tell Steve. 

“The serum worked,” Steve reminded Colonel Phillips with a small frown.

“I asked for an army and all I got was you,” Colonel Phillips sighed, eyeing Steve as though despite his impressive stature he was still disappointing. “You are not enough,” he huffed and with that, he marched away.

Juliet watched sadly as Steve’s head fell in disappointment. She placed a gentle hand on his back and the Senator walked up to them with an almost worrying grin as though he had a plot in mind that would greatly benefit himself.

“With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I’ve seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country’s seen it,” the Senator smiled and Juliet just narrowed her eyes at him. The Senator snapped his fingers at his aide as though the man were nothing more than a dog he trained. “Paper,” he instructed.

The aide gave him the paper and without saying thank you, the Senator snatched it away and tossed it to the front page. 

**NAZI’S IN NEW YORK- SOLDIER SAVES CHILD THREATENED**

Steve tossed a smirk over his shoulder as the Senator showed him the front page and Juliet beamed at him. Her story had certainly made the front page once again. 

She had even managed to get two large stories in that article. One about the Hydra man and another about the experiment and the success it produced.

However, Hydra seemed to be what the people wanted to hear about and she wanted to tell them. Especially if they were now coming to New York, she believed the people deserved to know what threats they were facing in their own hometowns.

If it were her, she’d want to know.

“Your friend writes quite the story,” the Senator remarked as he glanced down at the name of the author on the front page and the blonde standing before him. “The enlistment lines have been around the block since her story and your picture have hit newsstands. You don’t take two people with as great an influence as this and shove them in a lab to be dealt with later,” he scoffed. 

“Senator, what exactly is it that you’re asking of us?” Juliet implored with a raised brow.

The Senator took a deep breath, but rather than address her, he turned his focus to Steve. “Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?” He prompted.

“Sir, that’s all I want,” Steve smiled and nodded.

“Then, congratulations,” the Senator hummed, beaming up at Steve. “You just got promoted.”


	6. A Circus Monkey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: There is conversation with Juliet's drunk mother and abusive statements made that make Juliet cry. If this is potentially triggering for you, you can skip this chapter and you will miss: a letter from Bucky and the fact that the Captain America tour is going to Italy (which is shown in the movie). If you want to read the letter for Bucky, it happens before the abusive statements and you can read it and skip ahead if you'd like.

Juliet stared down at the letter in her hands with large eyes, unblinking as she clenched onto it as though it were her last lifeline. It was encrusted in dust and torn across so many edges it was damn near illegible, but Juliet was able to read the hurriedly scribbled words etched across the page and they did nothing to calm her fears.

 

_ Jules,  _

_ Sorry I haven’t been writing much again. A lot’s been going wrong with Hydra and there hasn’t been much time to write back. _

_ I miss you too. More than I can even say.  _

_ I hope you’re okay and not letting your loneliness get to you. If it were my choice I’d be back there in Brooklyn by your side right now. _

_ But I can’t. _

_ We’re going to storm one of the Hydra bases we found. Our numbers are low compared to there’s and I’m worried about what could happen, but it’s like you said.  _

_ I’ll try to survive it for you. _

_ Hopefully, I’ll see you soon, _

_ Bucky. _

Small tears dropped onto the page and dampened the heavy layer of dirt on the letter. Wherever he had been when he wrote her, he was under heavy fire and was unable to salvage the pristine state of the paper he usually wrote on.

Now that she knew more about Hydra, she just grew more and more concerned by the second. She wished she could find some way to get into the battle and pull him out, but there was a part of her that worried it was already too late.

She took a shaky breath and folded up the letter before placing it in her pocket. She stood up and pulled out her camera and notepad, furiously wiping at the tears that had continued their stream down her cheeks.

She hoped that nobody, not even Steve saw the fear and pain closing a fist around her mind right now.  If he saw then she would have to explain who she was afraid for and she wasn’t going to press down her concern onto his shoulders, not when he’d had enough to deal with.

After all, rather than turning him into a lab rat, the Senator had torn Steve from the battlefield and made him a circus freak. He paraded him around in some silly ‘Captain America’ uniform and made him perform theater with showgirls. 

They even had an actor playing a fake Hitler for Steve to fake knock out.

It was all a joke, but she and Steve both knew that it was this or be locked in a lab in New Mexico and Steve would prefer to be some circus freak that was still raising money for the army rather than a lab rat doing nothing.

She walked out to the dressing room where Steve was staring at his costume in the mirror with a frown.

Juliet took a shaky breath and found the confidence to resume conversation with Steve as though everything was okay and normal.

“You ready?” She prompted.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Steve mumbled.

“You’ll be alright,” Juliet assured him with a nod. “You just have to-.”

“Y9u know there’s nothing to it,” one of the Senator’s aides interrupted, shoving past Juliet and clapping Steve on the shoulder. “Sell off a few bonds, bonds buy bullets, bullets kills Nazi’s. Bing bang boom. You’re an American hero.”

“I just don’t like how I’m getting there,” Steve sighed.

“The senator’s got a lot of pull up on the hill. You keep playing ball with us, you’ll be leading your own platoon in no time,” the aide said, snapping his fingers to Steve with a cheap smirk.

“No, excuse me!” Juliet snapped, marching forward and yanking on the arm of the aide. “Who the hell let you back here?!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, I’m just doing business!” the aide insisted. “Take the shield!” He called out to Steve, waving furiously to the thin metal shield they had manufactured for him.

“Shut up!” Juliet snapped, shoving him out of the dressing room and slamming the door behind him.

Steve grabbed the shield and Juliet huffed as she locked the door and marched back over to Steve. She grabbed a mask they made with some stupid feathers on either side of his head and he leant forward so she could place it on his head.

“You know you don’t have to keep doing this, right?” Juliet prompted with a raised brow. “They’re parading you around like some joke.”

“It’s either this or New Mexico and this way I’m at least helping out the Army,” Steve shrugged.

“Yeah, by becoming their laughing stock,” Juliet scoffed. “I don’t like the way they treat you, Steve. You’ve become more like a kiddie cartoon character than a soldier.”

“I know, Jules,” Steve sighed. “But I can’t leave. What other choice do I have?”

“I wish there was a better way out,” Juliet muttered. “I wish we could just go to London and help them. I wish it was that easy.”

“Me too,” Steve nodded. “But right now we gotta bide our time and that means going on tour as Captain America,” he sighed, holding up the shield for her to see.

Juliet winced at the sight of it and glanced up at him with a small smile. “Is it mean that I’m actually really happy I’m not on stage with you and they didn’t make me one of the showgirls. I mean, I want to be here to support you but I just can’t sing and I hate those tiny skirts,” she sighed.

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “No, I think if I were you I’d be grateful for the same thing,” he smiled.

“Sorry,” Juliet winced. 

“You’re fine,” Steve chuckled.

Behind the curtain, they heard the crowd cheer and Juliet sighed. “Well, I guess you’d better get out there.”

“Yep,” Steve sighed. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered.

Juliet flashed a sad, but kind smile to him as he marched out on stage and she headed out of the dressing room to get a look with her camera from the very front.

As she did so, she heard the showgirls singing very loudly around Steve on the stage.

“Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American way?!” the girls sang and Juliet rolled her eyes.

She headed out the back door of the building and moved through the crowd as Steve lifted up his shield to read the notes Juliet had written down for him. 

“Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank. But there’s still a way all of us can fight,” Steve read and Juliet smiled when she saw him putting a little emotion into it as she had advised.

She pulled up her camera and began snapping several pictures of Steve. She tried to get as little of his face as possible in the pictures, focusing the images more around the showgirls. She knew it likely meant she wouldn’t get front page with an imperfect picture, but if she could save at least a bit of Steve’s dignity she would.

“Who vows to fight like a man, for what’s right, night and day?” the girls sang and Juliet wanted to groan loudly.

After his first show, she hadn’t bothered taking notes anymore, because she would have the same story every time just changed a bit so the Senator couldn’t notice.

_ ‘Captain America takes (insert city here) by storm. Everybody is lining up to buy bonds and support the American hero.’ _

It was garbage, but apparently people preferred that to hearing about what was going on in the war. 

“Series E Defence Bonds!” Steve announced loudly. “Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy’s gun.”

“Who will campaign door-to-door for America? Carry the flag shore to shore for America? From Hoboken to Spokane, the star-spangled man with a plan,” the girls sang.

No matter how many copies she sold with ‘Captain America’ she still believed people deserved to know what was really going on. Not because they needed to be informed, but because there were families and children that could end up being affected by Hydra. She wanted to get the story out and help them and possibly even save them. 

Not feed them fake happy images to keep them at bay while people were dying.

“We can’t ignore there’s a threat and a war we must win,” the women sang.

“We all know this is about trying to win the war. We can’t do that without bullets and bandages, tanks and tents. That’s where you come in,” Steve announced, nodding towards the audience.

Juliet took a deep breath and glanced down at her camera. She had taken enough pictures and after the first few shows when she tried to be there for Steve the entire time, the Senator ordered her to get back so the audience didn’t have to deal with looking around her the whole show.

_ “Come in, snap a few pictures and get the hell out of there. Nobody wants to deal with some silly reporter blocking the show longer than necessary,” _ he’d said.

She wanted to be there longer for Steve, but if she was, the Senator would find out and she could be at risk of getting thrown off the show entirely and then nobody would be there to support him.

She sighed softly and knocked twice on the stage. Steve glanced down and she tossed him a sad smile and wave.

Steve took a deep breath and nodded, giving her a small wave as the showgirls sang to distract from him saying goodbye to her. 

She left just as Hitler began creeping onto the stage and she snorted at the man trying to hide behind some showgirls that acted as though they didn’t see a man obviously creeping through them and staring at Steve.

Steve seemed to know he was coming too because he heaved a deep sigh and rolled his eyes before continuing in his speech about how bonds could help the men in the Army.

Juliet headed backstage and went to a small storage area where many of the banners and stage decorations were kept. 

There was a large poster with the words ‘I Want YOU for the U.S Army’ with Steve’s face in that Captain America suit slapped in the center. It used to hold Uncle Sam, but now that Steve was so popular, they put his face on some of the posters as well.

Juliet sighed and shook her head at the sight. He had become nothing more than a poster boy and she hated that he had to let the Senator do this to him. He was so much greater than all this showbizz they tried to sink him to.

She pulled the phone off the wall in the storage room and began dialling her home phone. Since she had left, she hid most of the alcohol from her mother and made sure there was enough food and non-alcoholic drinks to help her last at least a few months, but she had to make sure the older woman had been actually eating it.

Luckily, her mother picked up on the third ring. There was a pause before an exhausted voice said, “Elizabeth Markus?”

Juliet sucked in a sharp breath. “Mom?” She muttered. She had not heard her mother speak more than a few sentences to her in months. This call would certainly serve as a first. 

“Julie?” Elizabeth frowned on the other end of the line.

Juliet choked back a sob at that very word alone. She hadn’t heard her mother call her Julie since Dad died.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me,” Juliet breathed. “How are you? Has Rebecca been coming by the house like I asked?”

“Oh, you mean that fuckin’ brown haired girl?” Elizabeth muttered. “Yeah, she’s a fuckin’ bitch, you know that?”

“She’s trying to get you sober, Mom,” Juliet sighed, dropping her head onto the wall and closing her eyes. “She and Bucky had a cousin that was an alcoholic and they helped him get sober one summer. She can help you too.”

“Where’d you put the beer before you ran off with that asshole you’re fucking?” Elizabeth demanded.

Tears threatened to spill over as they blurred Juliet’s vision and she squeezed her eyes shut tight, ignoring the cool drops hitting her cheeks. 

“I’m not having sex with Steve, Mom,” Juliet moaned. “He’s my friend and I’m trying to help him.”

“What ever happened to helping your goddamn mother, eh?!” Elizabeth barked. “Since when did men come before family?!”

“Since I’ve been trying to help you for the few years, Mama,” Juliet sighed. “And everytime you’ve made an improvement, you’ve just gotten worse right after.”

“Well, I don’t need to improve, you fucking whore!” Elizabeth hollered. “I’m perfectly fine! You’re the one who needs to get your life sorted, sleeping with two different fucking men!”

“I’m not sleeping with them, Mama,” Juliet mumbled, tears streaming in full force down her cheeks. “They’re my friends. They were there for me when Dad died.”

“Oh, I know,” Elizabeth moaned. “And you were there for them when their parents died. Boo freaking hoo. Just tell me where the beer is you little slut!”

Juliet took a shaky breath and glanced down. She knew she could send her mother to a hospital for at least a few weeks with the money she had now and if she kept getting steady checks, she could maybe afford to keep her there.

But would she really be willing to give up hope that she could fix her mother?

She wished Bucky were there so she could at least refer to him for opinions. He was always so helpful when it came to advice about her mother. He never judged her for wanting to continue living with her, but always opened his door to her whenever Elizabeth got violent drunk and she needed a place to stay.

God, she hoped he wasn’t dead.

She took a deep breath and turned around, slowly beginning to bang the back of her head against the wall as though that might knock some ideas into her as she listened to her mother tear apart the house yelling about her hiding the alcohol like a selfish bitch.

She supposed she could send her mother to the hospital and when she got back she could release her into her own care once more. Plus, putting her into some professional care might push her a bit further into sobriety than she could get her.

She sighed and nodded. “Alright, Mama?” She prompted as she listened to the sounds of bottles smashing across the floor. “Mama!” She cried.

“Fucking bitch, you know that?!” Elizabeth snapped.

“Mama, I’m going to have to go,” Juliet sighed.

“Oh, right, go back to fucking your boyfriend,” Elizabeth muttered bitterly. “It’s not as if you have energy left after fucking two guys to give a damn about your own mother.”

“I do give a damn, I’m trying to-.”

“Y’know, I carried you in my fucking stomach for nine months and rather than give you off to some poor old saps on the street I chose to raise you and change those stinking diapers every goddamn day?”

“I know, Mama, I’m trying-,” Juliet began again.

“And not one ounce of thanks I get. This bitch doesn’t even say ‘I love you’,” Elizabeth scoffed. “No, her thanks is hiding my fucking alcohol!” She roared and Juliet heard more crashes as she presumably cleared the kitchen counter entirely.

Juliet sniffled and furiously wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mama,” she murmured. “I love you.”

She hung up the phone quickly before she could listen to her mother scream anymore.

She leant back against the wall and allowed the wave of emotions to crash over her as she cried out every single ounce of pain she felt when hearing her mother scream. 

She had decided that was much worse than the months Elizabeth had gone without saying so much as a word to her. 

Juliet took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. She knew she had to be strong. She was the only strength left for her mother and for Steve and Bucky if he was still alive somewhere out there.

At this rate, she was bound to fall to pieces if she was told he truly was dead.

She closed her eyes sighed softly before turning back to the phone and dialling Rebecca’s number.

She answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Bex?” Juliet prompted, her voice cracking unwillingly as she spoke.

“Jules? Jesus, are you alright.” Rebecca asked, her concern seeping through the phone.

“Yeah,” Juliet mumbled, fighting back more tears that threatened to spill in her moment of weakness. “I just- I was on the phone with my Mom. It was nothing,” she assured the girl with a shake of her head.

“Are you sure?  Cause I-.”

“I’m sure,” Juliet promised. “I just need to ask you a favor.”

“Another one?” Rebecca frowned. “Alright, what is it?”

“I want you to get my mother into a hospital,” Juliet said firmly.

Rebecca’s eyes grew large and she took a deep breath. “Wow, okay, Jules are you sure about this? You always said you wanted to make sure she was safe and getting better yourself. You said you want to take care of the last bit of family you have left,” she reminded the girl.

“I was wrong,” Juliet sighed. “She’s not my only family. My only family is stuck in the middle of a goddamn war and I have to worry about them,” she insisted. “I’ve spent years trying to help her and anytime she’s made progress she’s only wound up worse. I have to reach a point where I admit there’s nothing more I can do.”

“Alright,” Rebecca nodded. “Is there any way I can help? I have my full time job if you want me to help pay.”

“No,” Juliet shook her head furiously. “I don’t want you to have to pay for my mother. She’s my responsibility. I have enough money to keep her afloat for an immediate enrollment of a few weeks. I’m making steady money with the paper now and that should keep her going afterwards.”

“Okay,” Rebecca said. “But are you gonna come back and give me the money or?”

“My credit and debit cards are in the first drawer of my dresser. My pin number is my birthday. You can pay for her on my behalf,” Juliet told her.

“Alright,” Rebecca mumbled, writing the information Juliet gave her down. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s either this or abandon Steve on the tour and this way nobody I care about gets left behind,” Juliet said.

“Okay, sounds good,” Rebecca smiled. “I’ll see you when you get back?”

“See you then,” Juliet confirmed with a nod.

“Bye, Jules.”

“Bye, Bex.”

With a sigh, Juliet hung up the phone, but rather than getting up immediately, she stayed seated for a few minutes thinking through what she did. After all her stubbornness over the years, she had moved her mother into a hospital regardless.

She knew it was for the best but she really wished she didn’t feel as though that last existing tie she had keeping her in Brooklyn and rooted to the silent stable life she had envisioned was just broken. She knew that when she did go back, life would never be the same again.

She heard a door creak and jumped at the sound, but her startlement fell into a smile as she saw Steve walk in. 

“Hey,” Juliet sighed. 

“You missed quite the show,” Steve smirked. “I socked old Adolf in the jaw,” he said and Juliet chuckled.

“So, that would make this, what? The fifth time?” She guessed. “Or the seventh?”

“Technically, I would won the war seven times by now if any of this war real,” Steve smiled. 

Juliet laughed and shook her head as she picked up her camera and notepad.

“As if Adolf Hitler would sneak up on a guy wearing tights through a group of showgirls,” Juliet scoffed.

“Stranger things have happened,” Steve shrugged. 

“Like the little guy I used to tease growing up becoming taller than me and way bigger,” Juliet giggled.

“Like that,” Steve smiled. “Come on,” he sighed, wrapping his arm around Juliet’s shoulders and turning back to the door. “The Senator is requesting a picture with ‘Captain America’,” he said, using air quotes as he used the superhero name they had given him.

“Ah, of course he is,” Juliet chuckled. “Did you hear they’re making comics about you now?” She prompted with a raised brow.

“Realy?” Steve said with large eyes and Juliet nodded. “Huh, well if I can’t be a hero in the war at least I got to play one on Broadway,” he sighed.

“That’s the spirit!” Juliet exclaimed with a giggle and Steve laughed and shook his head. 

“I don’t think I’d be able to do this without you, you know?” Steve smield as he looked down at her. “You’re what’s kept me from giving this whole thing up and bolting.”

“Really?” Juliet scoffed. “I thought it was the other way around.”

“Ah, sometimes,” Steve agreed with a nod. “But right now I’m a national figure and I can’t just drop out.”

“Shit,” Juliet sighed snapping her fingers with a small smirk. “And to think we could have bolted within the first or second show but we just missed it.”

“You know we couldn’t have done that,” Steve smiled. “The Senator needs me,” he insisted.

“Yeah, he needs you to become his little monkey, singing and dancing and doing tricks whenever he says go,” Juliet moaned. “I know you think you’re helping, but you don’t deserve to be treated like somebody’s puppet.”

“I know,” Steve nodded. “And your presence helps me feel less like I’m nothing more than Senator Brandt’s puppet.”

“How so?” Juliet wondered with a small frown.

“Well, you’re here with me to poke fun of all the ridiculous stuff they toss on me,” Steve shrugged. “That helps more than you know,” he nodded. “If I didn’t have you I’d just be surrounded by these goons who think all this is just fantastic,” he sighed.

“I suppose you’re right,” Juliet smiled and nodded. “And at least I don’t have to wear tights across America,” she smirked.

“See?!” Steve grinned. “Poke fun of the tights, please. They’re ridiculous.”

“That and you look like an American flag barfed all over you,” Juliet snickered.

“Okay, now you’ve gone too far,” Steve grinned playfully and Juliet laughed.

They reached the crowd of people all waiting for a photo op and right in front of them all was Senator Brandt standing beside one of Steve’s posters asking people to enlist in the Army.

“Ah, there he is!” the Senator exclaimed, grabbed Steve and pulling him to his side. “The man of the hour!” He beamed and Juliet sighed in exhaustion.

“Hello, everybody,” Steve said, waving to the crowd awkwardly. 

Immense chatter and delighted squeals followed his words and Juliet frowned at the women in the crowd. How can they be so head over heels for a guy with wings on his head?

“Come on, let’s get this picture taken so I can make our big announcement to the crowd!” the Senator cried.

“Big announcement?” Juliet frowned. 

“Yep,” the Senator smiled. “The news of where we’ll be taking the pair of you to next,” he said, poking Steve’s chest happily.

Juliet groaned and rolled her eyes. “Joy,” she mumbled sarcastically.

She walked over in front of Steve and Senator Brandt and knelt down before them. “Okay, say ‘Captain America’,” she instructed and snickered when Steve’s face fell.

There was a pause before they both exclaimed in unison, “Captain America!”

Juliet snapped the picture and moved to the side with a sigh. 

“Wonderful!” Senator Brandt smiled, wrapping his arm around Steve as though they were old friends. “Now, as far as the next leg of the tour is concerned, we figured since our mighty duo are bringing in so many enlistments we would take them to see our boys our on the battlefield!” He proclaimed and Juliet and Steve shared a wide-eyed look.

“The Captain America tour will be going to Italy where they can see the faces of those they have enlisted the help of in person,” Senator Brandt announced and the crowd erupted in cheers.


End file.
